From 9 to 77

Holy smokes, only in the south can you go from 9 degrees to 77 degrees in one week. Craziness?! But today was totally beautiful, driving with the windows down and music pumping. It just brought everything back to life for this one day. Tomorrow - we go back to 50s as a high. It's all good, it is January, after all. But I'm so thankful for this one awesome sunshiney day in the middle of winter. 

My drive into work this morning 

I have all this creativity in my head right now - it's almost stifling because I can't seem to pick one idea and run with it. Argh! I have some beautiful fabrics and can't make a final decision on which pattern to move forward with. Any ideas on how to choose one?! 

I did finally decide on this one. I need to put on the red border. Love this fabric but I almost had a panic attack when I cut it hahaha!! 

This sweet girl... (She's missing her glasses in this pic) but I hadn't seen her all week until yesterday. She was so excited! Hopped up into my arms and hugged, snuggled, nose squished, and showered me with love. Wow what a blessing. She can bring tears to my eyes with her sweetness. I'm so blessed. 

Love her! And her imagination. Her unique personality. Her smarts. And sass. Lol! 

With my early afternoon off today I ran by the store I sell my bib sets in and dropped off these Valentine's Day bibs. Cute!??! I thought so. I'm hoping someone else does, too, and buys a few. Sheesh. I keep wondering if this is the right path. 

Ok it's Friday night and here I am, squeezed into a love seat in my living room watching Shark Tank and wanting to throw things at my tv. Sometimes at the Sharks, sometimes at the presenters. 

So I'm going to go stretch my legs and I hope you have a lovely weekend :)

I originally posted this on my Pressed Clovers blog by accident. Oops! So it's a little out of date here. Sorry!   

Vote for Me!

I'm dying to go to bed and can't seem to turn off my TV from watching the Mark Twain awards honoring Bill Murray. I don't even adore Bill Murray but it's a compulsion to watch it. I do love me some PBS. Downton Abbey. Poldark. Mercy Street. Antiques Roadshow. Daniel Tigers Neighborhood. America's Test Kitchen. Martha Stewart. Fons & Porter. Seriously good stuff!!

But to say I'm exhausted would be an understatement. My full time job is in the elections office. Imagine what that looks like less than two weeks out from a Presidential election. Ugh. Last night, a coworker and I worked from before 8 am until 1 am in the morning. So the job is kicking my butt. But I still find joy as I see my "students" aka people who work the polls. I love them and the relationships we develop through the years of training classes. Good people. 

Y'all my sweet nephews turned one this month! How can time have passed so quickly?!? Adore them. Liam's sweet flirty looks and Kellans sweet nonstop laughter when he gets going. Precious!! 

These two - talk about love. Macy goes bonkers for her sister and thankfully Aliah 1-Loves her too and 2-puts up with Macy attacking her in hugs constantly while she's home. 

You'll notice Macy is patching. Hopefully this will help her avoid surgery along with her eye exercises and glasses. 

Someone told me Macy should be featured in a Dr Seuss show ... Is that a compliment? But she's hilarious and comes up with the funniest stuff.  Last night in a restaurant, Mae moved to a table by herself. When mom told her to come back with the family she said she did her best thinking when she was alone. Hahaha!!!

Spirit week at school... Go Mountaineers! 

Let me share a lap blanket that went a bit wonky on me. I tried the easy hourglass pattern but didn't want to chop up the butterfly fabric too much. It's a hot mess but is being gifted anyway. The bright colors, the butterflies and cats fabrics, the flowers and pinks all remind me of her. I hope she finds joy in it :)

I'm still enjoying seeing for Pressed Clovers. The last two pics are from vintage fabrics that a friend asked me to see into sets for her first grandchild. Isn't it neat?! She bought the fabric almost 40 years ago when her own daughter was born. So special. 

Ok if I don't get some sleep I'm going to be in a mess tomorrow. Glad to get a few photos added for me to see later. :) 

Fridays Letters

Y'all my job is keeping me crazy busy and I'm worn out. So of course the immune system is getting slack and I'm struggling with a sniffy nose. But life is good, I have so much to be thankful for and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving this year (not usually my fav holiday).

So it's Friday again, and it's time for letters. 

Dear elementary school, the election today was great. Mainly bc the teacher in charge runs a tight ship and has such passion for her students. I adore her and enjoyed my time with you today. 

Sweet nieces, you make me happy. Sweet Niece #1, I'm proud of your martial arts and volley ball. Your great grades, artistic talents and sense of fun. Sweet Niece #2, I'm proud of all you have learned, your love of Jesus so young, sensitive nature, silliness and girliness. The two of you are my heart. 

Dear Big Brother, you ended. Derrick won. Donnie is America's Favorite Player. No more reading feeds in the morning. No more discussions at work. Maybe I can get a life now. Maybe. 

Dear Pen Pal and friend, you rock. Loved my surprise bday package, immediately put some goodies to use. My classes enjoyed cool pencils last night! :) 

Dear Lord, You know I'm not perfect and you see all of me. You know my heart and I pray You continue to work in my life, shaping me to be the woman You want me to be. Take my talents, my skills, my personality and put them to use in the ways You want me to go. Please forgive my sins, and change my heart so I won't repeat them. 

One last photo of Minnie Mouse. Lol. 

Ok y'all I'm going to bed. Hugs people. Hugs. Go hug the people you love :)

Friday's Letters.

Ya'll I am so very blessed. God placed me into an immediate family that is beyond wonderful - words can't describe my parents, siblings, their spouses and families. So thankful for being in this family.  But I also have an outstanding extended family on both sides - mom's and dad's.

A little background about my family:  My mom is one of 12 (yes, you read that right!). 12. She's number 8 in the line up so she was towards the end.  Actually, her oldest sister had children about my mom's age, so she was an aunt to people her age. ha ha! That's how it works out when you have so many kids. There were 9 girls and 3 boys in the family, (only one set of twins), from 1933-1956 (ish...I'm not too sure about the baby's birth year). All were living until this week, when my mom lost her oldest sister - the first born of the family.  It was a difficult weekend with hospice calling it down to a matter of hours.  Then she was gone.

My dad is one of 8, another rural Southern family with a ton of kids.  They had 6 boys and 2 girls - Dad is 5 in the line up and the first to be born in a hospital! Funny story - his birth certificate said, "Baby Boy" on it until he got married and had to legally change his name! Two of my dad's brothers have passed, one last year.  That one was tough because it was sudden and he had such a large personality - it didn't seem like it should have happened that way, with no chance of a goodbye.  This is why we should tell people what they mean to us today, right?

With my aunt, it was easier thanks to a wonderful service, delivered by her granddaughter.  She got choked up a few times, which were about the only times I really got choked up.  But she did a great job of presenting my aunt's personality without embellishing it or making her sound like someone she wasn't.  Because she was tough, straight-shooting, tell-it-like-it-is-whether-you-like-it-or-not, a community leader and a community MOVER.  She got things done.  Her granddaughter did her right.

So there, that's my week.  Getting back into work has been tough and overwhelming.  Not in a bad way - I'm definitely not complaining. It's forcing me to get organized and I like being organized. :)

OK, on to some letters:

Dear Mom and Dad, Happy Anniversary!  44 years is so beautiful and I'm SO GLAD ya'll went away for the weekend.  Go have a wonderful time without kids or grandkids and we'll see you when you get home.  We all love you very much!

Dear Project Life, I have spent hours working on you, trying to catch up the past several years of scrapbooking, only to realize I've left out many events that I wanted included. And it's not easy to go back and add... so I guess I'll be doing that this weekend somehow.  Let's not discuss the 100s and 100s of photos I've purchased thinking I would need them only to have them piled in a shoebox. Hmm...

Dear Big Brother, you aren't that exciting, but I'm still totally addicted. I read your feeds on Twitter every morning and every evening to make sure I'm up to date with your drama. Not that there is a lot of drama... but whatever.  Derrick, you deserve to win but Victoria, it would be hilarious if you took it all!

Dear Work, you are killing me.  It's Friday.  8:00 p.m. I'm still here.  Granted, I'm now blogging, but up until about 15 minutes ago, I was working.  2.5 more months of insanity and hopefully it will slow down.  By the way, work space, I'm loving my new desk and the new partitions that block out some of the noise!! LOVE IT.

Dear McDonalds, no more mocha frappes - I swear it was like my heart was going crazy.  No more.

Dear Neon Colored Paper Clips, you make me very happy.

Dear Far-off Friends, Ok, so I mailed out postcards from the beach today.  Work with me, ok? Don't think I'm psycho, just smile and nod.  Thanks.

Ok people, I'm heading to my HOUSE.  My couch, my twitter updates, my Project Life scrapbook... you get the picture.  Wish I have more excitement to post here, but I'm tired and don't have the energy to chase down pictures. Next week, I promise!  Adios my friends - have a great weekend and hug someone you love today!  :) :)

It's Friday? Time for Letters!

Again, my days are all screwed up from taking a day off in the middle of the week. Not that I would trade that day in for a work day... hahaha... but it does get confusing. I spent HALF A DAY cleaning my kitchen. Serious Deep Clean. Now my fridge is empty - and I'm totally not kidding about this. But maybe that's good. I can restock it with healthier choices (after the beach trip, of course...)  All this to say it doesn't feel like a Friday. But it is Friday, therefore, it's time for letters.

   

Dear Pintrest... I know you think all of your ideas are wonderful, BUT not all of us are perfect crafty people. Macy helped paint the four canvases and the pic on the right is what I imagine the final product will somewhat look like.  Cross your fingers for me.

Dear Macy, why are you growing up so quickly?? Look how long legged you've become! (I asked her when did she get big enough to crawl into that chair by herself and she said, "Aunt Bef, I grew!" hahaha). And because I can - here is another photo of her in her mommy's classroom:

Dear Coworker - thank you for going through the stack of doctor's bill and EOBs and matching everything up for me. The growing stack was very intimidating, but your expertise helped me out so much!  Now, who wants to pay these things?? :)

  

Dear Lego Movie - you really did crack me up! You are hilarious! Frozen, you were good, too. I surprisingly loved you! Now to watch Last Vegas and get these movies returned before I have to pay for another night.

Dear Big Brother - Oh my.  You are so bad for me. I stay up late reading your feeds and I wake up and start all over with more feeds. At least ya'll are interesting this year. Judd is still my fav (oh how I wish he would make a guest appearance in the house!) but ya'll are pretty entertaining.

Ok, I'm off to do battle with my insurance company and see what they'll do for me.  Ya'll have a gerat weekend (stay dry, it's pouring buckets here) and I'll see you next week. :)

Friday's Letters!

Be exuberant! :) 

Does anyone ever click on these random things I post from Etsy?  Just curious. Because Etsy houses some really cool things and I love finding new treasures when I need an image.

Anyway, toady is Friday- whoo hoo! and this week really zoomed by me.  Not that I'm not ready for the weekend, but since I'm working some this weekend, it doesn't have quite the same appeal. But it's all good. Let's dive into Friday's letters, shall we? I think it's time.

DEAR GOD - You are AMAZING and I'm so thankful that you respond to my worries and fears even when I don't tell You about them.  AND when you answered my worry, you also delivered me four shirts with my company logo on them... which was great! So yes, I hear You and I'm sorry! I'll try to do better about talking to You about everything.

Dear Sara - Enjoyed dinner this week and catching up on the funness of your life. And learning what the X sounds like in Spanish.

Dear American Idol & The Voice - Wow.  AI, you are just having a horrible season.  And I blame the judges because they are the ones that put these people through to this level.  But The Voice seems to be doing well so far! Love Shakeria and Usher over Christina and Ceelo (I'm sure I'm misspelling all these names, sorry).  So I'm much more excited about The Voice.

Dear Project Life - Holy cow your stuff is expensive!  (Anyone getting rid of Project Life stuff??) I purchased the starter kit and I'm excited to start my own scrapbook.  To catch up on the past 38 years of life and hopefully stay caught up. Gracious, it's going to be a journey.

Dear Raynore - I don't know what's changed yet (I'm guessing I'll hear in a letter!!) but I'm SO VERY HAPPY FOR YOU!  Watch out, NC, here she comes!

Dear happiness - thank you for visiting me.  Maybe the lack of sleep is making me giddy but I'll take it. :)  It sure ain't the weather making me happy (the weatherman said if this rain were snow, it would be 30-40".  CRAZY!) So happiness, come back and visit with me any time!

So there.  My letters to begin my weekend.  Ya'll have a good one and I'll see you back here on Wednesday, if nothing else! :)