More sewing.. more life ;)

It has been almost 3 weeks since I last blogged and since I had nothing better to do right now (other then cutting out patterns) I figured I'd quickly to that.

Let's see, as usual lots and lots of sewing going on here:

 I broke down and bought a new machine and I love it!! I was a little concern about spending $500 on a sewing machine, but this thing is awesome. It sews like a dream.  I had considered keeping the Singer as a backup, but gave it to my mom; if I need a second straight up sewing machine it will be another one of these. 

Grey A skirt for Charlotte

Purple A skirt of Charlotte

Re-usable sandwich bags. I have a few more to make but ran out of ribbon. These were a pain in the butt to make as the laminated fabric kept slipping and sliding around. 

Skirt with elastic band, and pockets. Ended up being way too big, so it is going to donation.

Dress for Charlotte.. this is Sam's project. Need to take in the straps. 

Two more pair of fleece pants (for Charlotte and Makenna)

My first quilt top..  a Jelly Roll 1600 race quilt. In the process of picking out borders and backing so I can quilt it. Oh, and waiting for my quilting foot to come it. 

Children's Fleece body pillow.  I actually made 3 more for Mak, Cam and Dylan, but never got pictures. Had an order for two adult size ones for my neighbors that I finished this weekend that I forgot to take pictures of too.  =(

Children's Messenger Bag - Made by me for Charlotte

Children's Messenger Bag - Made by me for Charlotte

Adult Messenger Bag - Made by Sam for me! Doctor Who!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

I have an order in for one of these too!! So excited!!

My biggest accomplishment so far. A Jamie dress from a paid PDF pattern.  Definitely was not a pattern for a new sewer, but it turned out! Only took me 3 days to make. HAHA! Will be cutting another one out today  And printing and cutting the children's version of one for Charlotte. 

Currently have several projects lined up that need to be worked on, including two more quilt tops. 

This is mostly what my life consists of now is working out, and sewing ;) But I thoroughly enjoy it.

 As most of my close Facebook friends and family know I did not stay at CTU. When I applied for VA Voc Rehab I applied for the educational benefits with the hopes of maybe eventually getting cleared to work again. It did not work out that way.  I was denied the educational portion of Voc Rehab, but was granted entrance into the Independent Living Program because of the severity of my disability.  I have met with my consular a few times, and recently in Columbus on Valentines Day to discuss the course of action for my plan.  We discuss that some of the areas we are going to work on is seeking treatments again for the PTSD (already back in), photography and sewing/quilting with the goals of getting me to leave the house, join some groups and get out more socially. From what she was telling me is that the VA will cover the initial cost and tools for me to get started, but it is part of my plan to use, and maintain them in order to benefit from the program. I am now waiting on the in home assessment of the program, where the come meet me at home to discuss what I need her to make my day to day living better, and help with my disability. This is where I will find out everything I need to know.  I have also been advised to apply to get P&T on my disability as well, which I have done, and if approved both Sam and Charlotte with receive education benefits and CHAMPVA medical. I did already have an evaluation for P&T set in Sept of this year, but hopefully this will get me in sooner.

Now, this is going to be a little mean but after me giving out this initial information of what is going on with Voc Rehab and ILP. I will not discuss it further or give out any more information on what I am getting or stuff of that nature in this blog again. Some of my very close friends and my close family members will get more information from me via PM on Facebook when the time comes.  I just wanted to keep everyone else in loop as to why school did not work out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam is doing great and has been crazy busy at work setting up the new network at both the Loudonville and Ashland stores.  He will be having his yearly evaluation in April and we are hoping that with all the new tasks and stuff they are entrusting him to do, he gets even a small increase in pay. Once our taxes get deposited (hopefully this week) we both are buying Macbooks and he is going to start programming more and earning more of his certifications with his.

 He was tossing around the idea of doing some woodwork as well (apparently, which again did not know until recently is that he did that with his mom growing up too) but we won't have a garage until... well, no one needs to know about that yet, so he decided he wanted to wait until then.  We actually had a full cart of tools and stuff at Lowe's two weekends ago and he put it all back. I knew some lady about 3 years ago who woodworked and I was totally looking forward to Sam doing it.... I even had an awesome sewing table picked out... men...    Hmmmm...  maybe I can hint up. LOLOLOLOLOL!!!! 

Charlotte is doing well too...   She has been just as busy with student council, band, EVO, and the 6th grade permanence they just had. Ever since I took up sewing she had to start a craft too, so she has been really into Polymer Clay sculpting in her free time. It is actually quite cute, so I ordered her a few books on the subject last week from Amazon.  She is getting excited as May is fast approaching and the swim team will be starting up again.  Busy busy. 

Starting to ramble now, not a whole lot going on, and I need to get my butt in gear...   more in a few weeks (haha)

More Sewing...

Pants for Charlotte

Pants for Charlotte and have enough fleece to make a 2nd pair for Makenna

Pants for Makenna with enough to make a second pari

16x16 Throw Pillows

Spiderman Pillowcase for Cameron

Tissue Packet Holders made with scraps from fabirc I have for zippered throw pillows I will be making..

I have enough fabric and supplies to make 4 more pair of pants, 2 skirts, 4 pillows and another set of cloth napkins I will be working on this week.  Sam will be making another dress for Charlotte and then a summer dress for me. 

Sam made this dress this weekend for our neice Kylie

Sewing 101

The weekend before last I took the plunge and purchased a Singer sewing machine since I've been having the urge to learn for the last few months.  Before then I have never sewed a day in my life beyond the occasional hand stitching.

The first night I practiced sewing lines and lines of stitching on remnants of fabric that I purchased. Once I felt comfortable enough I moved onto simple throw pillows. My first 3 looked alright except the hand stitching was awful.  I later learned I wasn't even doing it right! Go figure.  My next 4 turned out pretty darn good. 

Next up, I moved to a Learn to Sew pattern put out by Simplicity for pillowcases. First 2 were good, couple minor mistakes (need to take pictures).  So, yesterday, and the day before I made two more while taking pictures this time.

Pillowcase #3

 Pillowcase #4

This weekend we decided to get a tad crazy! Now, Sam has taken a sewing class, sewn with his mom, and worked for a sewing company long before met (which I didn't know about) so we decided to jump into a dress pattern for Charlotte, since we figured he could do it.  Now, I do love it when a man doesn't limit himself to the traditional gender specific hobbies, and while my hubby is a damn good computer programmer he can also sew too (and cook)!  He did most of the work on this dress... I did a one or two very basic things like stitch the front panel to the back. 

It ended up being a good practice run and turned out pretty good  We have enough (different) fabrics for him to do another dress like this, a toddler dress in another pattern, and really nice long sun dress for me. 

I ended up finding some gorgeous upholstery fabric this weekend at Hobby Lobby marked down to $4/a yard (down from $21/a yard).  So I bought the last 3 yards that they had, and i have 7 -18 inch pillows cut out to be stitched and stuffed today. I am very excited about those. Also as I write this I have a load of fabric going in my washer for a bunch of cloth napkins and a basic pair of pajama bottoms that I am going to attempt (another Learn to Sew pattern).  This weekend I am going to pick up some more fabric for more pants and possibly some for skirts too!

Not sewing but I FINALLY finished a crochet afghan I kept stopping and starting!

My Heart is Broken...

Woke up yesterday and went about as usual with my morning routine. Mid-morning came and I realized one of my six cats (my babies) never came to the door to be let in, so I went out and called him. No sign of him.  Over the next few hours I went out several times to call him, and as the time went on the more afraid I got of him being gone.

Sam came home for lunch I asked if he had seen Smokey, and of course he hadn't since the night before. We went and had lunch as usual. As we came home, and approached the corner of were our house is Sam goes "Oh no" and I look out the window.  My poor baby Smokey was laying on the sidewalk, next to the fence, on the front side of our house. I would have never seen him from the front door, or where Sam parks during lunch.  Sam parked, I flew out of the car, and to him, but it was too late... he was already dead.  I suspect he was hit by a car, but I am not sure because he look fine.. like he was sleeping.

I lovingly wrapped his body up, and while Sam was back at work, I drove to the local vet and paid to have his body cremated.

I have cried so much in the last 24 hours that my eyes hurt, and feel raw. My heart is broken and I keep telling myself that it is my fault I should have made him come in before bed, looked for him sooner, just something so I could have saved him.  He was one of my two favorites of the clan, and I miss him so much. I will miss his head butts, his drool, his rolling over to have his belly rubbed... and most of all I will miss his love and affection.

RIP Smokey (May 28, 2012- January 8, 2013)



Afterthought: I know that cats are better off indoors, and believe me I tried from the time I brought him and his brother home from my parent's house in July until after the fair in October.  They wanted to be outdoors, and they would tear up the blinds and I couldn't have it.  They never spent more then a few hours out at a time, but now I wish I would have done more to keep them inside exclusively........

Happy New Year

It seems that another year has come and gone in what seems a blink of an eye. 2012 has taken me on quite a journey and I am looking forward to seeing what 2013 has in store for me, and my family. I am hoping that most of you, my friends and my family, have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve and may 2013 bring you great happiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, I must blog for the last time in 2012, and get everyone caught up in what has been going on since early November.

This last case of shin splints has by far been the worst case that have had so far and it left me out of the game for longer then expected. I did, fortunately, recover enough in time for the Santa Hustle 5K on Sandusky on Dec 16th. Unfortunately, only 4 of us were able to attend the race and three of us were coming off different running injuries, so needless to say we walked a bit more the we expected to. Sam and I drove up the day before the race to pick up all of our packets. We decided to spend the night in a nice hotel, have a nice dinner, and just enjoy the time alone. It was an amazingly awesome weekend.







Looking forward to the 2013 Santa Hustle where, hopefully, we will be doing the 1/2 marathon.

In the fitness and weight loss department there as been no change in weight, but I haven't been very diligent at all on my eating habits with the holidays. I did manage to lose an inch off each thigh, a little over a quarter inch off each arm, and half an inch of my waist since November. Oh, and slightly under a percent off my BF%. I give credit for that to Les Mills Pump, which I am a few weeks into. I am doing that along side of Beachbody's newest program Les Mills Combat which I added in last week. This hybrid of programs has be my favorite so far.

Now that the holidays are over, well with the exception of tonight, I am going to buckle down and get serious. I start my Marathon training in February and have my first big race in April, which is the 25K (17 mile) trail run in the Mohican Forest. I just keep praying that those pesky shin splints don't come back.

Sam hit one year at his job this year the end of October, so that opened a lot more benefits and opportunities for us. I am thankful for him to have such a good job because we are earning more money then we've ever brought in before. Just keeping my fingers crossed that his yearly evaluation in April with bless us even more!

We were able to have a truly amazing Christmas this year! Charlotte had a list of things that she really wanted, and with her being an only child we were able to buy her that, and more because let's face it... Only child = Spoiled

.







We had one present that didn't show up until last week right after Christmas because Sam and I waited too long to order it, and that was her new iPhone, which was supposed to be her surprise Christmas Eve present.



Besides making out like a bandit for Christmas, Charlotte is doing fantastic. She is about halfway through 6th grade... Her final year of elementary school. In August she will start attending the local High School where she will spend her last 6 years of school. She started playing the trumpet in the 6th grade band in October and loves it. It is fun listening to her practice every night and hearing her improvements. We got her beginning of the school year test result and is doing above average on everything, except reading which is scored the highest on with a 9th grade reading level. Her first term report card in November held nothing but straight A's and I am praying that she keeps it up. Guess the next few months will fly by and she will be getting ready to start swimming again on the summer swim team.

As for me, I am doing well... I've been slowly driving more since we bought the new car in July, although I am not quite ready for the icy snowy weather yet. I've been hanging out with my local friends more which is good for me since I haven't had really any close good friends in, man, 10 years or so?

Tonight we are all celebrating the New Year together with reservations at nicer restaurant and maybe some drinks. Tomorrow they are doing a New Years Bike ride in the Mohican since they all are avid mountain bikers. They've been trying for weeks to talk me into that, but I am so not ready for that in the snow. I tried it once in July and it was crazy. But, who knows, I could agree to it. Have had an interest in it since before we met Kim, and even more know. Maybe I will add the MTB 100 to the crazy things I want to do.

The biggest change starts this weekend for me as I am going back to school for the final time. Sam and I have been throwing around the idea since about April. I want to go back to work and I want to do something in a career that I'll love. I don't to be stuck with only ever working at Walmart (been there done that.. twice... gag). My disabilities have kept me from achieving my goals for too long now, and I will no longer let them bring me down. Although applying for VA Voc Rehab is what really sealed the deal and will now help with my schooling. BS in Accounting, and eventual CPA license here I came.

Guess I need to wrap it up, 20 minutes until Sam get home from work and then we need to get around for dinner, and drop Charlotte off. I don't know what the next time I will blog as I will be so busy, but those I am very close too will have access to all my postings on Facebook. I will make it my goal to blog before my 25K in April though.

Happy New Year!!