if you crochet sew

2010-04-25T17:05:00.001-05:00

2010-04-22T13:07:00.001-05:00

http://guwolofo.t35.com/

moving #2

2009-08-27T12:39:00.001-05:00

this is amanda

this is my new blog

http://amandaveneman.wordpress.com/

Moving........

2009-05-21T23:02:00.003-05:00

I'm moving blogs. Blogger is really hard for me to use. I need more self-explanatory websites. WordPress seems to be easier.

http://taralynnthomas.wordpress.com/

This is the new page. Click on over and see what I made today!! YAY!

6 days til the Thomas' arrive! 9 days til we move to Louisville! HOME SWEET HOME!

Help!!!

2009-05-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

Does anyone know why my machine might be doing this? I'm free motion quilting and using Coats and Clark white thread. The top thread breaks after a few stipples. It's like it thins out and eventually breaks. I've changed my needle, adjusted the tension up and down (when I adjusted down a #, the bottom threads were super loose), changed to a different type thread, oiled the gears....what is going on? Any other suggestions? I know in free motion quilting the tension should be lowered some- how low do you usually go?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

yippie do da day

2009-05-15T21:17:00.002-05:00

This describes my day: watched the birds and played with my cutie cousins.

bad news...

2009-05-13T18:19:00.003-05:00

I am about to eat my last cup of country club ice cream ever.

meow

2009-05-07T17:51:00.002-05:00

If blogging was a game, Tara would win. Next week I will have all kinds of cool stuff to show you guys. All because of Tara, of course. She is going to teach me EVERYTHING she knows about sewing - all in two and a half days!! Yeah right. She knows way too much.

This weekend is going to be busy with family and graduation. Then Sunday evening Nate leaves for his hike til Thursday. We haven't spent that much time away from each other in about ten months!! Yay for marriage, boo for away time. I'm glad we don't get tired of each other. I guess thats what 5 years of a long distance relationship will get ya.

I'm not sure why I just blogged any of that. I just want to keep up with Tara. She is beating me at being awesome.

Another shirt.

2009-05-07T17:24:00.005-05:00

How 'bout that french braid?!?!!!!!! I'm so happy my hair is long enough to braid.

And there is our camera- now you know why my pictures are always really dark or blurry...our camera is a little old and the operator isn't all that technologically savvy.

Simplicity 3835 again. I used the 3/4 sleeve and tie thingie instead of elastic short sleeves. I wish you could feel how soft this fabric is. It's not knit, it's woven, but it is as soft as knit. It kinda looks like denim but I promise it doesn't feel that way!

It's obvious that I'm out of my internship. I sew more, therefore I blog more.

Thanks for the recipes, friends =) I love simple recipes.

Simplicity 3835

2009-05-07T10:28:00.002-05:00

This pattern is so simple! I finally found it at Wal-Mart for $7. This fabric is from the stash my cousin's grandma gave me. It's sort of seersucker with blue and pink plaid. I'm going to make another one today with some AMH fabric- it will be gorgeous, I'm sure!

If you go to pick out a pattern at the store, remember to check what size you're getting. I got home and saw that I had picked up the 12-14-16-18 size and thought I picked up the wrong one. But I didn't, I wear a 12 in sewing pattern size--- Check your measurements!

sneak peek

2009-05-06T13:51:00.002-05:00

This quilt front...and back...I need to buy some batting and then it'll turn into a quilt sandwich to be quilted.... yay

Cooking

2009-05-05T18:52:00.002-05:00

Hey friends. I need some new recipes. I know there are TONS of cooking websites online so I'll look there but what is your favorite meal? Here are just about all the things I cook:

-Chicken Pot Pie
-Spaghetti
-Brown Rice w/ pork
-Tacos
-Lasagna
-Kielbasa pasta
-Tuna Patti's (haha sis)
-White Chili
-Red Chili
-Skillet Chicken
-Taco Soup
-Donna's Chicken (also known as cream of chicken w/ chicken pieces and ritz crackers/poppyseeds)
-Breakfast pizza
-Veggie Bake w/ chicken

Amanda, if you make something often and it's not on this list, tell me what it is.

As you can probably tell, I like to cook things that are really easy and fast and with easy ingredients. We are super burnt out on all of these meals so I need help!

I need to go to the grocery!

revival

2009-05-04T15:29:00.004-05:00

This is the quilt....sort of. It's not all sewn together and those are not all the rows. There are 2 more rows of 5 squares. It's hard to match up seams so I've been lolly gagging on finishing it up.

Here is the shirt I made today. I'm undecided on if I like it or not. I didn't use fun cute fabric because I wasn't sure how it would fit and I hate wasting pretty fabric! I guess this is just a little obnoxious....green and orange, apples and flowers?! HAHA

This is a great picture taken by moi. haha just kidding. I had to take this sucker in like 3 inches on each side! It was REALLY baggy. Now it is just kinda baggy. I guess it'll make a good maternity shirt in a few years. Or sooner.?

We're moving to Louisville. I don't have a job yet. Waiting to hear back from an interview.

Tell me what you HONESTLY think about this shirt>> http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=791 I can't figure out how to link so you'll have to copy paste.

meow

2009-05-04T14:01:00.002-05:00

see anna's tail in the right corner?!

I'm sure all of you saw my blanket on facebook - but if not, here is the most adorable thing I've ever made. I am mostly proud that all of this yarn was just sitting around with no future. And now its all crocheted and pretty in a big granny square.

Sorry I have abandoned this blog. A lot happened in the past month and I never really felt like sitting down and messing with blogger (never seems to work right for me..)

Here are the big updates:

-I was less than a mile away from the F-4 tornado that hit Murfreesboro in early April. Nate and I were at Moe's with our friends Katie and Brien when the bad weather hit. Luckily, the TV was on the news station and we knew not to leave. Katie and Brien would've been right across the street from the tornado had they left for their next destination! I'm pretty sure I saw the storm carrying the tornado, but a building was in the way of me actually seeing the tornado. That would have been freaky.

-I didn't get matched for an internship. I don't want to go into too much detail about this because I'm still a mad about it. I am NOT looking forward to this whole process again. I have concluded that I am lacking clinical food service experience and plan on getting a job related to that.

-Nate and I are moving to Nashville at the end of June. Lauren Mechetner will be my neighbor(ish). We will be living in Bellevue. Our third floor apartment looks over a mini-lake oddly named Shangri-la Lake. We will have 152 more sq. ft. of living. And a kitchen half the size of ours now =( Lots of stuff will be in our storage closet (located off our deck). I'm planning on setting up a sewing area in the dining room. Then I will sew a million shirts for myself.

-Nate graduates this Saturday. He looks hilarious in his cap and gown. His hair is longer than mine right now & the cap just makes him look goofy. But we concluded that no one looks attractive in a graduation cap. He even told me I wasn't attractive when I graduated. But I'm not mad about this - its the truth.

-Nate's big, long, scary hike is next week (may 11-14) and Tara will be visiting me for some of the days. She is bringing her sewing machine and we are going to make me a shirt. She is making the same shirt today actually. Maybe she will blog about it. I bet she will since she has NOTHING to do with her life. Except study to become an RD. Go Tara.

That is all the updating I feel like doing right now. Jaime - I want to apologize specifically to you because I told you multiple times that I would blog in the past month, and never did.

IMPS quilt squares

2009-04-14T19:38:00.002-05:00

http://www.mgbeng.com/quilt2009/

I'm going to work on a quilt square for the Miniature Pinscher Rescue group tonight. My big sis, Jaime, is a volunteer for the KY MinPin Rescuers and she e-mailed this to me. Just read the directions and e-mail the quilt lady and send the square in by May 18th.

I'm eating Chocolate Cake Batter Ice Cream from Cold Stone---YUMMY.

BILL GATES

2009-04-13T19:13:00.002-05:00

My brother in law, Jonathan, saw the richest man in the world this weekend.
He was working at the Pro Shop at the Masters and BILL GATES was shopping.
So was Adam Sandler and Tiger Woods' mommy.
I am completely star struck and I didn't even see them.

Sewing Updates

2009-04-12T20:35:00.003-05:00

Matthew requested an Easter bow tie....so I traced his black bow tie (on the bias) onto this pretty polka dot pastel fabric and made him one! I'm not very fond of bow ties but every once in a while is OK, especially since it was by request!

I made this dress about a year and a half ago. I remember the day I made it- I was home alone at the Roadhouse almost all day. All my stuff was spread out on the kitchen table and I finished in once whole day. I thought that was pretty impressive since I had just learned how to read patterns! When I made it, it was a little too big. After getting married....it fits =) It was always a really weird length so last night I added an extra hem.
It is preshi.
While hemming, I fell in love with this:
It is a narrow hem foot. It's a little tricky to use getting started but once you get the hang of it, it makes a narrow hem all without ironing!! That is a dream come true!!

This is the quilt-in-progress. Who knows if it'll turn out pretty in the end!! I sure hope so.

Here is a peek of the ginormous amount of fabric I inherited from my cousins grandma. This is a really large wheel of ~4 inch wide fabric. I honestly don't know when I'll use it but it is pretty amazing!!

And that is all for now. I haven't been sewing much lately but I will start back up soon! 3 more weeks left of my internship and then a month of studying for the RD exam and packing up the apartment. There will be plenty of time to sew!

YAY

2009-04-12T20:09:00.004-05:00

We got an apartment in Louisville!!!!!!!!!!!! We haven't seen it yet...hahaha...but my mom went to take a look and if she would approve for us to live there, then we will live there. Apparently it is really big and clean. It's in the Crescent Hill area where all the houses are really beautiful. It is less than a mile away from the Seminary and a few miles from downtown. There is a non-functioning fireplace with a MANTLE. I LOVE MANTLES. And it is probably good that it is non-functioning... And there is a sun-room (with 10 windows that will be the sewing room), 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, laundry in the basement, window A/C units and an attic fan- could be interesting- etc etc etc. We are able to move in the middle of May but will permanently be there the beginning of June. If you live in Louisville, come visit! We will be so happy to be near friends and family again. And if you live somewhere other than Louisville, still come visit because we probably miss you!
That is the floor plan- click it for a bigger picture. I'm so technical---not.

Just a peek at the brown/black combo in the kitchen!!! You see the stove? See on the left that extra pull out thing? Can you tell me what that is? We can't figure it out. Maybe if you guess right I'll give you a prize. We won't know what it really is until I actually see it though. Think of this as my first blog giveaway...maybe? maybe not?

I am ALMOST finished with my internship. I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to travel a lot this month (Lexington, Louisville, Murray x 2) so hopefully that makes it go by faster. AND I FOUND MY FLASH DRIVE. It was in Matthew's car!

Happy Easter! We are happy to celebrate a Risen Savior!!!!!! We had a wonderful time eating Easter lunch at the Taylor's house this afternoon =) We will miss our Owensboro friends!

Oh, Matthew sent out an e-mail to his gmail contacts with a link to both of our blogs. If you read this, leave a comment! I'd love to know who is hanging out here! Matthew also didn't check who all is in his contacts before he sent the e-mail so I'm sure there was someone really random who got it! And if you are an English teacher, forgive my grammar.

(Wes, crochet is pronounced kro-shey, not crotch-it)

Friday

2009-04-03T12:45:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a picture-less post. I'm sorry. Pictures will come later!

1) I have all the pieces cut out for the quilt. It went by really fast. I used to think I hated cutting out fabrics in such a mass quantity but it wasn't too bad. I would try to explain how I'm making the quilt but we can wait for pictures to do the talking. You know that feeling when you're making something big and you're worried it's not going to turn out the way you want it to? That's how I feel right now about this thing. I think it's gonna work....I hope it does! This is a big ol' quilt: 80"x96". Grandma Faye (my cousin Jen's grandma) gave me a TON of fabric and a lot of it made it's way to this quilt- that's special =)

2) I ate battered fish filets today. (battered, not fried...haha) Matt said he was craving them after smelling Wednesday night dinner at church. They were DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!

3) At 3:30pm, I'm leaving to meet Amanda in TN to go see Hanson in Nashville. We're really hoping all the whack-o crazy annoying Hanson fans won't show up. That used to be us in 5th grade but we're over it!

4) Tereza always cooks with fresh broccoli and I never did. Last week I bought some and loved it so so so verryyy much. Thanks TJreza for the inspiration.

5) I lost my flash drive. Not a good thing since it's the end of my internship and I NEED IT.

6) I have an interview on Wednesday in Louisville.

7) Only 4 more weeks until my internship is over!!! May 1 =)

my baby

2009-04-01T15:06:00.003-05:00

she just looks sweet. this girl has gotten wild

she loves lying on my blanket, but today it was all bunched up on the corner of the bed b/c I was crocheting - so she lays on what small part is available. preshi++

My Blanket!!

2009-04-01T14:48:00.004-05:00

I started making these granny squares back in the fall and then got tired of doing the same thing over and over. And yarn costs money. And I have a limited amount of money.

This past weekend I decided it was time to do something with all those squares. And this is what I did!

Here are some of the squares

I added dark green around every square
And stitched them all together
Im so good at taking blurry pictures =) I still have to add a double crochet trim, but I wanted you guys to see my blanket!

Hope you likey =)

Weekending

2009-03-31T18:48:00.005-05:00

This is Annabelle, welcoming you to the Birthday Weekends blog post. She hung out on my couch a little bit during birthday weekend. She cute. She fine. (name that quote. here's a clue: MTV)

This is Macaroni (giraffe) and the elephant who doesn't have a name yet. The Elephant is Maddie's birthday present. Amanda is a crochet genius.

I made an apple pie. I only took one bite- the apples were weird. Everyone else said the apples weren't weird but I thought they were. Making pie crust is fun..not scary!

Amanda gave me a crochet lesson. I have a braid in my hair-inspired by twister Manda. (twister, get it "twin sister" nerdy, I know)

This weekend: Maddie's birthday party! Here is Lena all pumped up about her Leapster and Maddie chilling in her cutie watermelon shirt.

Lena...concentration. She is wearing her Halloween costume over her Sunday Best. Preshi+++

Maddie and I. I LOVE MADDIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I just saw a movie preview for a Disney movie with Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift as the actresses. Dream.come.true.

Guess what? I have an interview next Wednesday. =)

PS: I was given ~7 boxes of fabric this weekend. Tereza and I sifted through it all and consolidated to two big boxes of fabric. Jen's grandma gave it to me- sweeeeeeeet grandma Faye.

PPS: We are in Louisville looking for a place to live. All I have to say is I wish people valued cleanliness like we do. There is something out there, we know it!

family photo

2009-03-27T14:44:00.001-05:00

family photo, originally uploaded by amandaveneman.

aren't we cute? =)

sweet annabelle

2009-03-27T14:38:00.001-05:00

This chick loves to stretch

And sleep right here

Flickr

2009-03-27T14:26:00.001-05:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

craftiness

2009-03-26T23:15:00.000-05:00

I took a bunch of my balled yarn and threw it in this cute bowl thing. I keep the embroidery stuff in there too b/c Anna can't get up there to stab herself with the needle

Here is a close up of what I've done so far! Tara taught me how to embroider this past weekend (very easy, also I only know one stitch..)

Tara got me this V for my birthday and I wanted her to see where I stuck it. Right in front of the toilet. So everyone is forced to look at it. Because it is cute. And shiney.

**note, I am very frustrated with blogger right now because it won't let me upload pictures the way I want to. So I'm doing multiple random blogs using Picasa. Why multiple?? Well because the stupid thing will only post like 4 at a time. WHHHHY

random food stuff

2009-03-26T23:08:00.000-05:00

I made a cute little lunch the other day:

I made whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip raisin cookies (made with applesauce, not butter):

recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/Amazing-Whole-Wheat-Oatmeal-Cookies-203676

Anna played with a noodle.

Next Quiltio

2009-03-25T22:08:00.002-05:00

I'm going to make a quilt based off the picture Amanda painted me. She is so talented and prettay. I might add some more green as I go and MAYBE some black polka dots but we'll

http://www.filminthefridge.com/2008/10/21/another-completed-quilt/
I want to base it off this style. Strips made into squares...random pattern....easy peesy? And I want to quilt it like http://myauntjune.blogspot.com/2008/12/one-of-those-posts.html this girl quilts. How neat-o. http://myauntjune.blogspot.com/2008/10/best-laid-plans.html another example of her handiwork. yippie! We have to finish wedding thank you's before I start but I'm feeling motivated...tomorrow.

2 more days til SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday Weekend + pictures

2009-03-24T19:46:00.002-05:00

We had a fun b-day weekend. At Bible Study on Sunday night I got to wear a mask and birthday cone hat. This made me very happy =)

Amanda painted me pretty pictures. She has one at home like this and I think one time I told her I wanted it.

Mom got this cutie little basket from Target, it's Orla Kiely.and it's preshi.

Sweet Becky Wells randomly sent me fabric! When I got the mail I opened it immediately and talked non-stop for ~30 minutes about how sweet it was for someone to randomly send me fabric!

Tereza provided me with some embroidery supplies so I got to work....Matthew helped!! HAHA. The LONG needle is right in the middle...can you see it? Embroidery is so relaxing and easy!
And that's it for pictures tonight! I feel like sewing tonight but as I look at the sink full of dishes I know that I probably won't do anything. I did find a really cute quilt pattern today (ZIG ZAG QUILT) and the lovely thing is that there is no triangle piecing!! Not that I'm scared to triangle piece, but I like the basics, ya know?! I want to cut into the fabric I got for Christmas....I'm so lame, I've only cut out just a teenytiny bit of 15 yards of fabric! That's how scared I am to cut into yardage. It can't be explained, just a weird thing some people experience!

Matt just called me and when he gets home we are going to eat leftover ICE CREAM CAKE. Diddlydooo I can't wait!!!

HAPPY SPRING!

2009-03-20T13:59:00.003-05:00

Today is the First Day of Spring people. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER.

Other happenings today:

-I made chocolate chip scones: http://www.joyofbaking.com/SconesChocChip.html

-My cat is asleep INSIDE of my blanket

See the hole in my blanket? See her tail?

Sorry it is so off-centered, I took it with photobooth and I haven problems with mirror images. Just couldn't figure out which way to turn the computer - ha!

-I'm picking up my bridesmaid dress for Sarah's wedding. Hoping it fits like the one I tried on a month ago =)

-We're going to Owensboro tonight for the weekend!! I haven't seen the fam in over a MONTH. That is just plain silly. I'm especially excited to give Tara her birthday present because it is preshi. And thoughtful too. I'm so clever.

Test Post

2009-03-18T16:59:00.001-05:00

Just testing out a feature I just figured out. Write the blog in an email then send it to a specified email address. Will make posting multiple pictures much much easier

6:

2009-03-18T15:34:00.006-05:00

Guess what? I'm going to try and grow some flowers. I've never officially done this before. (The time I grew the mini-plants from the Target dollar section does not count.) (And fifth grade when Tara and I planted gigantic sunflowers in the school garden doesn't count either.) There is no record of either anyway.

Here are the goodies. I've yet to decide when I want to actually sow (I typed sew first..lol) the seeds. I don't want to get them started inside because Anna will most definitely get into the soil. And I don't want them to get bitten by a possible beginning of May frost. What to do, what to do.

Randomly chose these two flowers. They're pwetty. Luckily, after researching online, they are pretty comparable flowers in regards to soil moistness (moistness??), when to plant, life expectancy (ha, such a serious term to use with flowers - just shows how random my brain is), and they both repel insects. These babies are gonna start in Murfreesboro, and then no telling where they will live the rest of their lives. Kind of exciting.

As Tara blogged about earlier, our favorite ice cream is being discontinued. DISCONTINUED! Life will never be the same once this stuff is gone. I am serious. Ask me, Tara or Jaime. Pour milk over this ice cream, mix it and it forms these crunchy ice chunks! Nate calls it ice cream cereal. I get probably 5 or 6 cups out of each 1/2 gallon. And I have 6 1/2 gallons left. That is approx. 32 cups left. Don't ask how I got 32 - I'm bad at math, and my methods are unexplainable. Here is proof of my madness:

I smile every time I go to the frozen section and they have just a few more sitting on the shelf. Today I bought two of the three left. The last time I bought all four. The time before - three. Do that math. That is about 10 pounds gained?!?! Whatev.

Here is something else I found funny yesterday. This recipe is called "Chicken with Twenty Cloves of Garlic." #1 GROSS #2 Why not Garlic Chicken??

sorry the picture is sideways. i thought i fixed it

This is what I got in the mail today. TWO birthday cards! A tape measure! $5 to DQ! Instant Coffee!! Let me explain. Tim Kickert broke mine and Tara's tape measure last year doing God knows what. Can I say God like that?? I mean, only God knows. It isn't in vain, is it?!? Either way, he broke it and for my birthday this year, they replaced the tape measure. Hilarious! The instant coffee was free from Starbucks.com and since I work there I figured I would try it. Not that I can tell a difference between instant and regular. Don't tell Howard.

please don't distribute mine or sarah's address. i didn't mean to show that.

On a completely different topic, I made bread today. Irish Soda Bread to be exact. Not sure where the Irish or the Soda parts come into play, but it looked yummy so I made it. I laughed to myself when the butter stacked like this:

Am I weird? Here is the goodness before baked:
And After:
Sorry it is blurry. You get the point though. I will tell you that I forgot 4 tablespoons of sugar - which made me VERY mad for about 2 minutes. Then I tasted a piece off the top before it was done baking and it tasted like biscuits. Ain't nothin wrong with that. I hope mister Nathan likes it. He loves bread. I love bread too. WE LOVE BREAD!! Now give me a good bread recipe someone. I want a loaf bread recipe. Preferably with whole wheat. Maybe I'll look that up to make next. Until then, I'm going to dig the bread mixture that is stuck in my diamond ring out. GROSS!

Flowers

2009-03-15T19:23:00.003-05:00

My Matty brought me a flower from the arrangement at church. Every week there is a beautiful arrangement of flowers in front of the pulpit and they are ALWAYS perfect.
It is displayed on our table in one of Matt's many Coca-Cola bottles. This particular glass bottle is from Peru.

Have a happy week!

Stoup

2009-03-14T19:56:00.002-05:00

Amanda told me I should make Rachel Ray's Lasagna Stoup (Stew/Soup). I had all the ingredients on hand so I made it! Here it is boiling away. Some of the stewed tomatoes are really big. I usually cut those smaller but my scissors had raw meat on them. (Rachel Ray Stoup in a Rachel Ray Stock Pot...nice)-->

Next on the list...I am making a mini-wall-quilt. They pop up on etsy.com sometimes and I loveeeeee them. It's a quick way to decorate (kinda) and it is fun. And I got to use scraps from AMH.love.

For Maddie's b-day I made her a shirt. I mean, I appliqued a watermelon on a shirt I bought at Kohls. Her and Lena will both fit into it...they are 18 months apart and the same size :) (Lena is a bit taller but they weigh almost the same) The watermelon was Matt's idea..so was the embroidery...and he picked out the fabric. Today he said he is a "closet sewer" though he has never sewn a stitch (to my knowledge!)

My birthday is in 8 days.!!!!!!!!! I made Amanda something but it's a secret so I can't show it yet. YAY!

RD Day

2009-03-10T19:46:00.004-05:00

I'm an intern in dietetics. Tomorrow is RD Day. I felt like I should thank the RD's who have taught me so much so I made brownies and cards =) Amanda wants to see and I'm sure you do too....
Some are colored with crayons and markers, others have sewn words. So professional, I know!
I made Matthew a Valentine's Day card back in February. He was super impressed-what a sweetie.
We rearranged our bedroom. It's purdy
Matt and I went on a walk tomorrow and we saw DAFFODILS. It's almost spring :)

no sewing.....

2009-03-09T12:38:00.004-05:00

Sorry (Jaime) that there hasn't been much posting over here. I'm almost finished with this rotation at the hospital and I have a LOT of work to finish. I am currently making a power point about protein. Then have like 10 other things to finish! Sewing has been put on hold-and will probably stay on hold until our wedding thank you's are finished (AHHH...8 months and still not done!) Spring Break is coming at the end of the month and that will probably restart my sewing :) I can't wait!!!!!! Tereza has been showing me all her pretty pretty projects and so has Kourtney and I feel sad when I can't sew.

This weekend Matthew and I went to a WKU baseball game with one of the teachers at his school and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Our noses got sunburnt! And we got to see Chel and Tim and RILEY, their sweet doggie who let's me hold her even though she is 40+ lbs. I miss Bowling Green!

Also, I'm on the job hunt! It's exciting...there are openings in Louisville so say a prayer for that. June=Louisville =)

5:

2009-03-02T11:41:00.013-06:00

Happy March!! It's mine and Tara's birthmonth. We LOVE our birthday. You will soon find this out if you didn't already know.

I took a picture of all the dishes I hand washed the other day. We had a ridiculous amount of dishes - I blame it on the huge scratch Anna gave me on my palm. Such a weird place to get scratched. Oh, how about a picture of the scratch real quick? That chick is crazy.

Evidence of the at least 45 minute dishwashing session.

A couple nights ago we got SNOW! How did I not know we were to get a few inches? What a nice surprise =) Some people (TARA) don't like snow. That would be because she is hogging all the snow. Thanks for the snow, T.
Before I went outside to take a few pictures, I had to get one of Anna being all cute in her carrier. She is asleep there right now, actually.

* note: i put the toy there

Here is our parking lot. I'm thinking the wind blew a lot of snow over our way b/c the other side of the parking lot looks a bit naked compared to our side.

By the end of the day I counted at least 10 snowmen hanging around the complex.

Nate bought me the Crochet Today magazine for my birthday (a bit early =) There is a pattern in there for little scrubbies. I decided I didn't want to use cotton yarn and actually use them to do dishes - I wanted to decorate with them! I don't like the orange or yellow circles much, but I do LOVE the navy and teal ones.
I think they look cute on the wall. I kind of like a bit of clutter.

HEre is what they look like in the magazine. I wish I had those colors.

I've decided to finally crochet a sweater for myself. I had some of this gray cotton from a while ago - can't remember why I bought it actually. I found this box of crayons in the desk today. Got them from the Veneman's in my stocking! I love the little box - I want to repurpose it so I see it more often. Or maybe I'll just start coloring?

A picture of the sweater made by someone I don't know. I joined ravelry.com a while ago, but hadn't found anything I'd like to make yet. I'm hoping I can make this thing fit how I like. I'm a little picky =)

link to blog with sweater

Here is a link to the actual pattern - if you're curious.

That is all I'll share for now - it is lunch time and my belly is growling! I made baked rigatoni last night. Its real easy - 1 lb. beef/turkey, 16 oz rigatoni, 28 oz jar of pasta sauce, 8 oz cream cheese, 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Mix meat and sauce. Layer in 9x13 pan - noodles, dime size dollops of cream cheese, meat sauce, mozzarella. I did 2 layers of each. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Ok now - lunchtime.

Devestation

2009-02-25T20:17:00.004-06:00

There is something happening at Kroger that will affect the whole entire rest of my life forever and ever and things will never be the same ever as long as I live foreverevereverevereverever. Country Club Ice Cream has a "CLOSEOUT" sticker under the price tag. That means that my VERY FAVORITE ice cream IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD is going out of stock. At least in Owensboro. And I'm pretty sure closeout means it's going to be gone at every Kroger. In middle school and high school Amanda and I would come home and eat a cup of ice cream. Then after dinner, we'd eat another cup of ice cream...and we hardly ever gained weight while on this ice cream regimen. I attribute that to Country Club Ice Cream.
Actually, we should've gained weight because ice cream is not healthy and it has saturated fat in it. BUT look, 2 grams of FIBER! AND 2 grams of PROTEIN! I feel like I have to believe that ice cream isn't "empty calories" because it is my favorite food, but really, it's empty calories.

So tonight I bought 2 half gallons. And the next time you're at Kroger you should buy some and then write Kroger product request that Country Club CANNOT be discontinued.

4:

2009-02-25T11:53:00.005-06:00

This post is all cat - just so you know, in case you don't like cats (that would be just silly...)

Filli is our friends Seth & Erin's cat. She looks like mom's cat Snuggles, but with more brown, and more personable. They come over every Monday night to watch 24 with us, and this Monday we decided Anna and Filli should meet.

Here is Filli sitting in Anna's carrying bag. She was busy sniffing everything, while Anna was busy following her - hissing and growling, the little brat. Filli would have been a fun friend for Anna if she just gave her a chance.

I liked Filli because she was sneaky and could out-smart Anna. Here, Filli hid behind the door and swatted at Anna, but Anna couldn't do anything about it.
Then Filli walked very slow and gingerly past Annabelle
Notice Anna's mean face
Then she hissed and growled and Filli ran away.
This was our attempt at getting them to play together, but someone wasn't having it. I compared Anna's behavior to finding out your kid is the bully on the playground.
Filli snuck up behind Anna...lol
She sniffed her butt real quick and then Anna figured out what was going on
And hissed her away....
Beautiful Filli!

no, we were not trying to strangle her.

Nate and I decided later on that night that Anna doesn't need to meet any more cats. Nate is afraid we are going to make her real mad and change her forever. He heard a story once of someone putting a sock on their cats head (what the heck?!?!?) and the cat was never the same. Can you blame the cat though?

3:

2009-02-23T18:22:00.005-06:00

Looked over and anna had crawled all up in my crocheted bag - preshi. Notice I have out my crocheted blanket - this would be because I was showing it off today. Maybe I'll use it for once. My toes poke out of the holes and don't get warm though!

Note that side table there is the least decorated space in the apartment probably. I'm still struggling with this underline thing (just fixed it, not sure how...) I know it is because there is a link above the writing, but I don't know how to make it go away. Tara - help me. Oh and why when I copy paste something does the writing go down at the bottom of the page OUTSIDE OF THE BOX WHERE I PASTED IT?!??!

I'm watching Wheel of Fortune (don't judge..) and can someone out in blogland (I mean, out of the 3 people who read this) explain to me why people buy vowels when they clearly can solve the puzzle? Maybe I am missing the rule that says "the more vowels you buy, the more money you get" because I'm pretty sure vowels cost money.

Tonight, Anna will meet another cat, face-to-face. This could mean drama.

2:

2009-02-22T23:19:00.005-06:00

I think I am in trouble for not blogging. Sorry to all those who care =) I get on the computer and read my google reader, then I feel like I don't have anything neat to say.

Please excuse the blurry pictures, it is late and there was bad lighting. I can't work the fancy camera. I played with all the pictures in photoshop, but I don't know how to work that either.

Here is a picture of the cutest purse ever. Tara actually made this beauty. This picture doesn't do it justice. Whatever, I like showing it off!

This bag is HUGE. I mean humongous. Much bigger than I expected. When I'm finished with it Tara is going to line it with fabric, so stuff doesn't fall out between the stitches. I took this picture standing on the box spring of the mattress, hence the blurriness.

Well what a precious kitty!! She doesn't like the flash, obviously! She is so long!

Love/Hate relationship with her carrier. She is loving it here.

I love when she looks at me with her head down. I'm going to find her and pet and her tell her I love her.

Well, I am bored with myself. And my font keeps underlining. I can't make it stop.

ima pellow

2009-02-22T17:31:00.003-06:00

When my cousin Maddie was little(er) she used to say "Ima pellow" and who knows what that really means but Amanda and I like to say it. Here is a new pillow I made yesterday. It's a little Springy/Eastery and that is fun!

The fabrics are just from JoAnn's and there isn't really a pattern...just a little log cabin piecing and that's all! The pillow form is from a regular bed pillow cut in half- it works and it's free! The pillow hiding behind it is the other half. I'm going to give that hiding pillow a make-over so I'll show it soon. Nothing major :)

I realized this morning while writing a check for our new Bible Study book that OUR BIRTHDAY IS ONLY 1 MONTH AWAY!!!!!!!!! I love my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's her bday, too, since we are twins and all. Amanda, I wish we could eat ice cream together every day of the week. Or have Chel+ throw us a surprise bday party at do-jo. Even though none of these things will happen, we will have fun in Owensboro celebrating our growing older. Bring ANNA!!!

I've been really wanting to sew lately...especially quilt...but this week I've been so worn out from being at the hospital 40 hours and having school work looming over my head. Three more weeks of Clinicals!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye bye =)

title

2009-02-18T20:14:00.005-06:00

This is Matthew and I wishing you a lovely Valentines Week...a little late! We had a great time visiting Louisville and Lexington. We really liked the Seminary a whole lot. And we really liked hanging out with the family!

This is my first finished quilt. Matthew is my quilt-lover-helper husband and helped me put the squares it the right spots. He secretly loves quilting (only because it requires a lot of math!!) I quilted around all the yellow squares in the sashing and it is poofy and cute.

Up close it looks like this:
If only I had realized how to make the binding not cut off half of the sashing on all the edge pieces ...... oh well, I know next time! The yellow fabric is from the cutest little quilt shop in Louisville on Old 3rd. The Red geometric is from a shop in Murray. The polka dots are from Hobby Lobby. The brown dots are from JoAnn's. The batting is low loft poly batting and I don't like it. The backing is plain white backing fabric. AAAAnddd the thread is Mercerized Cotton, which I have no idea what that means except I know it is a bit studier than regular thread blends and I don't like to use it for everything.

I went to the NEW Kroger in Owensboro tonight to pick up some cereal for my beloved husband. I always forget about breakfast because I get to eat free at the hospital so I had to make a trip to Kroger to pick up a few things. Cheerios were $1.67 and the Smart Start was $2.67 and one has a mail in rebate!! I'd say that's a good shopping experience. AND KROGER WAS BEAUTIFUL. If we had a lot of money, I would buy from the natural, organic aisle because they are so pretty and healthy.

This picture sums up the highlight of our weekend. While we were eating at Wines on Vine, Jaime noticed a ceramic lamb purse sitting on the table behind us. The lady really had lipstick and other things in this purse! It was amazing. Jaime walked past her while leaving the restroom and got to see it in action. She reported back that it was just as funny up close.
This is mom's attempt to get a good picture of the purse. I think it worked. You can tell I don't use fancy smancy picture editing programs. Paint is the easiest thing for me...and I think it's the only thing on our computer. Maybe someday I'll use something else but probably not.
Here is a picture of all the Lynn West Women.

Taco Soup:YUMMY!!!! That's what we ate for dinner tonight. It sat for 4 hours in the crock pot while we were at church, then I let it simmer in the stock pot until Matthew got home. Here is the recipe:
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilis
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing
1 packet of taco seasoning (or some Wildtree taco seasoning that Jenn sells)
2 cans black beans
1 can yellow corn
3 cooked and pulled chicken breasts

Put all ingredients in crock pot, cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Or put it all in a stock pot for an hour. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and chips. And water.

Blog name explanation

2009-02-13T19:44:00.002-06:00

Our older sister Jaime helped us realized that maybe our blog title doesn't make sense exactly. I'll explain real quick before we eat dinner....

if you crochet sew = "if you croSAY SO" like "if you say so"

Maybe it's silly but for realz, we thought about this blog name for a long time and one day we had an emergency skype talk and determined this name. Amanda crochets, Tara sews. We can probably cross-craft (a new term for everyone) and switch duties but I gave all the yarn to Amanda and she let me have all the sewing things when we parted ways.

There ya go.

1:

2009-02-11T22:07:00.005-06:00

Title block. That is what I'm going to call what just happened and what I'm sure will happen quite often. I saw a blog once that used the blog number as a title. Perhaps I will do just that!

So a reason I wanted to start this blog is because I think it will be fun to look back and see what I did a year ago. I always wished I would've kept a diary growing up. I know that I will never be able to sit down and write what my day was like, but I can blog about it! Here are a few thoughts about this blog:

-please ignore all grammar

-I'm going to try to capitalize like a grown up

-and try not to use a ton of ellipses (... <---just had an urge to do it one last time)

-beware of kitty overload

Anyways, today was a huge relief - I mailed all my internship applications off to their destinations!! The cashier man at the post office probably thought I was a little crazy. I just stood there smiling and nervously fiddling my fingers. Little did he know, I had just handed him what will determine the next year of my life.

I will write more tomorrow and include pictures of various things (yannbanna (da cat), crochet projects, etc.) Until then, I leave you with this. MIA (rapper chick) at the grammys. When I am pregnant, I will be as cool as her. I vow this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ySzIGSps8

I guess I need to figure out how to put a video on a blog. I'll save that for another day =)

-alv

Again

2009-02-11T17:25:00.008-06:00

There is a wind storm.....again. Power is going out in Owensboro.....again. Our power is still on but I won't be surprised if it goes off! Here is a picture where you can't tell the wind is blowing at all and you can see raindrops on the window. I'm obviously not a picture taker/photographer/whatever.

Two night ago, Matthew and I discovered a moldy coffee filter in the coffee maker. It was from November. It is February. So we ran vinegar through the machine (yahoo answers suggestion) and smelled the whole house up. Then I ran 3 cycles of water through. Hopefully the mold and vinegar smell is out!!!!

Also, I'm sewing something. I could've had it finished in like 2 hours but I like to extend my projects out unnecessarily too long. It's a storage box thingy from Anna Maria Horner's "Seams to Me" book.
That's AMH's beautiful box. Her seams are actually on the corners unlike mine :)
I haven't put in the interfacing to make it sturdy yet but you can probably tell the un-even-ness of it. I love this fabric. I can't decide if Amanda needs this or if I need it. I think I need it.

This weekend we are going to visit Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where Matthew is probably going to be studying Christian Education for the next 3 years. We hope all goes well! We get to stay on campus Thursday night which is going to be like staying in a hotel, which we love! We hope we have cable to watch!! Then we're going to celebrate Valentine's with older sister Jaime in Lexington. Yummy pizza, decorating, dinner, UK probably losing =) it's going to be great. And I get to see Amanda.and Annabelle (who is featured in the header up there.) YAY!!!!!!!! And my mother...who I miss at random times...actually...always.

Amanda.....reveal yourself!!!!!!!!!! I don't want to blog alone =(

BTW: I don't know if blogger has spell check. Probably not. I apologize.

New Blog!

2009-02-08T17:36:00.004-06:00

Hey there!

We have been contemplating this blog-thing for a while now! There are two of us, Amanda and Tara, and we are twins. But most of you reading probably know that. We live in different states and we want to share our crafts with each other through the blog-world. Let's start with the Food Guide Pyramid...I guess it can be considered a craft :)

www.mypyramid.gov