move over edward

i think i've found a new love... his name is jared. i'll let you know for sure when i finish this:

why i am not crafty

i've traded in all my fun stuff for paint rollers, a shop vac, and a crowbar. instead of rubber stamping cards, i'm slapping joint compound on walls. instead of unpicking seams i'm pulling out nails. it's empowering but creatively-not so much. since thanksgiving i have sewn only one thing- and i didn't get a picture before i sent it away! but- have you ever used a crowbar? it got very addicting as i was using it to remove baseboards and moulding from our house. hopefully it will all be over by the middle of the month and i can dust off my kinds of tools and start making some fun stuff again.

a letter to spring

dear spring,
where are you my friend? i am longing for your presence. the rain, the clouds, the darkness; they're all getting me down. i miss the flowers, the sunshine, the blossoming trees. i miss waking up to the sun in my eyes. i wish we could get back together soon. when will you be back?
longingly,
your biggest fan

colander or not?

this is the center light in our kitchen. it was put up by a previous owner. i am trying to decide if i like it or if it's just a dust catcher. (can you see how thick the dust is? that's going to change very soon) any opinions?

no.30 three good things

the gap.

the office.

arrested development.

no.18 denyse schmidt quilts

i first fell in love with denyse schmidt when i saw her line of fabric at this quilt shop. i thought i had died and gone to 70s fabric heaven. i love her colors. i love her designs. i love the feel of her fabrics. so one day when macy lost the keys we decided to search until we found them and the winner got to order one thing from amazon. i was so happy when i found the keys in a kitchen drawer, and i ordered this book. if you are an avid quilter or just a beginner, this book is for you. it's not your average granny quilt book... or even your mom's quilt book. this is the quilt book for the modern quilters of today. it also had patterns for an apron, totebags, cards, a scarf and more if you aren't into quilting. even if you don't want to buy the book or borrow it from me (on the condition that you will keep it in a glass case until you return it) you can download a pattern for this quilt for free! isn't that so nice?
i just love how denyse has a very modern style with bright colors and funky lines. her fabrics and patterns are very unexpected but pleasing to the eye. in my dream world i would own at least a yard of each and every of her fabrics. but in reality, i just drool over them online. anyway, denyse schmidt is definitely my most favorite fabric and quilt designer and that makes her a very good thing.
oh yes, and no, i didn't make either of these quilts. the patterns are available here and here... someday i would love to make them though.

no. 13 trader who?

i don't want to make you who live in land locked states too jealous, but i have to say a very good thing is trader joe's. it's just the cutest little grocery store! they have lots of great products that other stores do not, the atmosphere is just fun, and the service is amazing. i had to find 25 miniature rose bushes for our little young women's program at church tonight and trader joe's came through smashingly. (now if only i could get to the other computer then i could upload pictures) they had the flowers all ready and packaged and everything. their service and style made the wholesale flower places i usually go to look pretty poor. and trader joe's prices aren't bad either. (at least not compared to other stores in this area) also, about the fun atmosphere in trader joe's, well they always have neat and fun signage (real word), but did you know they hire local artists at each store to make the signs? they also donate money to local food banks regularly in the same neighborhoods they are in. i could go on, but nobody is paying me royalties for this so let's just say i think trader joe's is a good thing.

no.11 painter's tape

spent the weekend painting baseboards and door frames. painter's tape is such a good thing.

twilight

will he or won't he?

confession no.2

while i am confessing things, i have to admit i really like martha stewart. not just like. i love everything that is martha stewart. i know she doesn't come up with all the great ideas and everything, but she has amazing people working for her doing amazing things.
secretly, when people tell me i am like martha stewart, i just love it- not because i think i am all great- but because i really want to be like her! i even like her haircut! it always looks so fresh and cute. yep- and if i lived in north carolina, you can bet i would be pushing for us to buy a martha stewart house.
remember when martha stewart apprentice as on tv? i auditioned. i only got to the second round, but for a second there i thought i really could be martha stewart. oh, and then the show aired and i was more than happy not to be a part of that.
oh, i guess there is one thing martha i'm not crazy about. the martha stewart recipes. i have never found one i love. too many abnormal ingredients. too many ingredients in general. too many steps. and on top of that they always seem to look a ton better than they taste.
and while i don't endorse why she went to prison, talk about making lemonade out of lemons. she sure did the prison stint in style. have you ever seen such a cute cell?
all i can say is martha martha martha. so what's your secret?

confession

i have never read harry potter. and i probably never will. but that jim dale sure can read!

382 sq. ft.

i know i sometimes complain that i live in a small place. ok. i complain a lot. well, i should do more and say less like this girl did. i love all the stars!

home

"there's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again."
-margaret elizabeth sangster

after a long week of being away from home, i have learned a few things.
-it's good to be back
-home is where your heart is
-i really can't wait until we can move into our house with a yard-it's good to be back
-even if your house is only as big as your sister's garage, it's still so nice to call it home
-"i long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever i find myself." -maya angelou
-i am officially calling seattle my home now
-"home is a place where when you have to go there, they have to take you in." -robert frost
- why do we work so hard to have a nice house with nice beds, only give it all up on the weekends to go camping?
-it's good to be back

for those who requested, these are a few pictures of our house... soon to be home.

beware of vampires

this recent blogging break was brought to you by the book, twilight, and the author, stephanie meyer. don't read this book unless you have a few days free. your life will literally come to a screeching halt.

i made the mistake of staying up way too late reading this book, only to force myself to stop at the end of chapter 17. let's just say it's not a good place to end late at night. as soon as i switched off my lamp, i swear i heard footsteps walking across the gravel under our deck right outside our window. this was no figment of my imagination and it was no stray cat. i tried to wake my sleeping husband, but he was out cold. needless to say, i only fell asleep when my heart stopped beating a million miles a minute. do vampires have footsteps?

talking in acronyms

newsflash as of today: my MIL is coming. i can't appear to be MIA in my own house. therefore i must SWC ASAP. but this week has WMO, and even though i should clean TtoB, it might just have to be FAO. i tell this to my richie and he asks why i must DtoI as he RHE. all i had to say was PLBKAC. that was the EOD. so her ETA is friday morning. how long can i avoid tidying up before i have to GOWI? sometimes i wish it could just be SEP. but alas, IIMY, so i digress. is this TMI? in hopes that it's not the SOSO, hope you had fun reading my acronyms. consider thie an RFC. whoever can name the most TLAs or FLAs, will win another pair of the CLEs i posted about earlier. and whoever can makeup the best(EINT) acronym meanings... well, you will BAW as well. so SAYOR, GL, and HAND! and if YCRT then you are SOL. no prize for you.

and then...

one day we think we are going to die of heat and the next morning we wake up to this:
it's a pretty nice view off our deck. we'd be able to see mt. rainier if the trees weren't there. but then, the only way i've seen of getting rid of these trees is not very good and involves months of rebuilding your roof... i guess we will deal with it.

so here is my own version of a heat wave: a mini quilt. i bought a kit only a year (!) ago. remember how i decided to clean out some of my unfinished projects? i am so proud because one of my goals of the week was to finish an unfinished something. macy has been using it for her new 'the girls'(little dolls from the thrift store) all day. that's fine. it's the perfect size for her 'girls.'
another goal was to post something new on etsy. and lookie! i posted three things! i am so happy with these pictures! it was a hurried moment on our front porch rather than the normal place we go and yay for luck!

this thing called running

ok. i have a confession to make. i think i might actually be starting to like running--just a little bit. i know... the shock is astounding (don't tell my exercise crazed father about this either). so on my little 30 minute run yesterday i thought of why i might be enjoying this torture and came up with a few reasons:
1) ipod shuffle. a christmas gift from the in-laws. wow it is great! i can clip this tiny thing onto my shirt and not even know it's there. thanks to richie, it is loaded up with workout-inspiring music that it shuffles through to keep me going. i really don't know how people exercise without music. i love that it gets my thoughts elsewhere because we all know that if i actually thought about what i was doing at the time (running), that would be the end. i'd have to pack it up and go home right then. yeah. the ipod has helped.
2) the sammamish river trail. the only other river trail i knew in my life was the provo river trail. it had two sections: 1.the section right next to the highway, and 2.the scary-you-might-get-jumped section. yep. that's about it. so discovering the sammamish river trail has been wonderful! i have seen rabbits, mice, frogs, geese, great blue herons, a bald eagle, salmon, deer, something that might have resembled a ferret, and more. the trail has never been too scary, and you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the city! fabulous.
3) seattle weather. rumor has it that it 'rains 9 months of the year here.' well, it's unfortunately a rumor. i say unfortunately because i will make deals with myself where i say i will go running only when it's not raining. that has only gotten me out of running like 3 times. seriously. and then once i felt ambitious and went in the rain and it was so pleasant that i enjoyed the mistiness! so i need to find a new excuse to get out of running, but for now, you can't beat the pleasant temperatures year round and nice mornings of no rain.
4)me. me. me. yep. me. i just love that i can think about things and really let my mind wander when i am all alone and not getting interrupted. this took me a long time to be able to accomplish and is the main reason i can say i might start to like running. now that i can think about other things than the pain i am going through while running it is much more enjoyable. i plan my day. i make goals. i get ideas. it's as great for thinking as the shower, but without the water and singing. let's just say there might be some merit to this thing called running.

hello my name is sara

want to spell your own words? click here

finally!

ok, you that are faithful readers. i finally sent out the prize to the winner of my little drawing.... remember that? yeah, quite a long time ago. so, to show you i was true to my word, here is what the lucky winner got:

the shoes... not the quilt, sorry. i just needed a better background than our dirty patio furniture.

in other news, have you ever tried facebook? i'm a fan. at first i didn't get it, and thought it was another myspace, but then richie got me into it because his work services the ads for it. then he told me how someone they interviewed turned them down for facebook. i was surprised that anyone would turn down such a big company with as many benefits as they give out... then i started reading up on what facebook has to offer.... uhm, complimentary breakfast, lunch, and dinner? wow! there are other more amazing benefits.... one of which would also be living in california. (oh how i miss that place) but anyway, if you are not a member, check it out. i have found way more long lost friends on facebook than i ever did on myspace. oh, and did i mention that it was started by a 19 yr. old? that part just amazes me. way to go after your dreams and not let the world get you down!

words of wisdom

they're grownups.
they're allowed to have fun
whenever they want.
we're kids,
we're supposed to be working!

george michael bluth