I'm Moving!

Nope, we're not moving houses again, but I am moving blogs. Same blog, new address:

I Was Never Meant to be a Theologian

So update any bookmarks, cause new posts will be at the new website.

Last Wishes

Dear World:

When I die of boredom...

Since Ben will be non-functioning due his devastation over my demise, please look after my dogs and cat. If they are hit by a car, you can bury them in any of the backyards where we have lived - I'm sure the current tenants won't mind.

I would like a Jazz funeral in the New Orleans-style, despite my lack of ragin’-Cajun blood.

Comfort my mother. As her baby child, she will be unconsolable, but I think a visit from Bully and a high-five from the current MSU coach (of any sport, but preferably all of them) will fix her right on up.

I want to be buried with a bowl of chocolate syrup over a little chocolate ice cream in one hand, and a spoon in the other.

I would like a Miller High Life in my other hand.

I would like someone to name a child (boy or girl) in my honor...not after me, but after one of my favorite names ever: Zula Mae. And make sure the he/she grows up saying "y'all" and "ain't."

I would like a Facebook page in my honor, to raise awareness over the monumental rise in deaths due to boredom in recent years.

I would also like a Twitter #hashtag in my honor. I think #mostawesomechickever will do. And you may use it to reminisce about all the great times we had together.

Oh, hey look...I made it through the day after all. Almost the weekend!

Yes, it is designer.

I finished the shirt I was working on. And it didn't turn out like I meant it too, but I like how it turned out anyway.

Mine

goober smile!

I think my next step will be to hire models for my pictures

I made this from scratch. Which is why it didn't quite turn out like the picture in my head...I cut the neckline too low, so I'll have to wear it with an undershirt. But besides that it works! It's kind of fun making t-shirts from scratch. The options are limitless.

And now it's time for a little math lesson. That Anthropologie shirt I posted in an earlier post? That costs $58. (HOLY CRAP! how is it even possible for a t-shirt to cost that friggin much?!) I bought all that t-shirt material for about $2.50, and maybe used half of it on this shirt. So that would mean I made a (somewhat) similar shirt for $56.75 less. Ok, if I do get better this could seriously be a lucrative hobby. (Do people really spend that much on clothes? Really? Like normal people? Really?)

Oh, if I could just stay home and sew all day long!

Ben is always the first that gets to see my finished products. Of course, he has no choice. His response to this one was: "It looks kind of weird. But it's like those designer t-shirts we saw."

Yes, exactly what I was going for. And my own design too!

And all is right with the world again...

Fighting Fabric

Working with new fabric can be a beautiful experience, where all feels right with the world, and suddenly I see myself opening a clothing line with a store front and French runway shows (ok, that never happens)...or it can be a horrendous debacle that makes me want to swear off sewing forever (this happens a lot).

And the latter is what happened with the knit fabric I bought last weekend. Quick sewing fact: there are woven fabrics (like dress shirts are made out of) and there are knit fabrics (like t-shirt material). Up until this point I have only ever used woven material. Cotton woven is pretty easy to work with, but it doesn't have the drape, hang, or stretch of knit fabric. The stretch aspect is why I'd never attempted knit fabric cause I had no clue how to work with stretchy stuff.

Turns out that's not the hard part. Actually sewing the material is fine. It was cutting it out that drove me crazy. T-shirt material sticks to itself. Trying to cut out a large skirt is very hard when it won't stay where I want it. I spent all last Saturday trying to get the fabric laid out straight, and gave up without getting anything cut. Then I played Mario Kart Wii and cussed a blue streak at Princess Peach and many other beloved Nintendo characters for making me lose. After that, Ben cut me off and we watched tv.

Sunday I attempted again. Finally figured if I cut the fabric into smaller pieces (I had been trying to work with 2.5 yards at one time), I could manage it better. That actually worked, but then I decided to not worry about a pattern this time around and just play with the material and see if I could even sew it correctly.

And like I said, turns out it's not that hard to sew. I'm making a shirt, and it will actually probably come out alright. And the really fun part is I can put my own embellishments on it! No plain ol' t-shirt for me.

I read several random peoples' sewing blogs to keep me inspired and interested (linked on the left if any other crafters are interested). One cool thing that many of these bloggers do is create high-end looks for less. Find a t-shirt at J. Crew or Anthropologie? Don't want to pay the exorbitant amount for it? Make it yourself for a fraction of the cost. It's genius. And will fill up the world with stylish, money savvy people.

Anywho, hopefully I'll have my shirt finished and pictures this weekend. Below are some ideas I've been mulling over to come up with my own design.

Anthropologie

Modcloth

Modcloth

I'm really diggin pleats right now, so we shall see what turns out...

Saving some green. And I don't mean the Earth.

Made a trip to Hancock Fabrics yesterday for new project supplies.

Fabric $0.95/yard, patterns for $1 each. I love good deals!!! (Hoping to do bottom right pattern as my next project)

Then we stopped by Big Lots for some essentials

Now I can have clean hair for $1.65.

National Sewing Month

Did you know we have a national sewing month? Neither did I! Though it doesn't surprise me since we have holidays for every type of family relation. And a groundhog.

But while searching the web for sewing tips and tricks as I often like to do, I stumbled across the website for National Sewing Month. Per the website, "the observance of National Sewing Month began in 1982 with a proclamation from President Ronald Reagan declaring September as National Sewing Month 'in recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation.' "

And there's even a contest. And boy, do I love winning things. Ergo, I love contests.

Here's the flyer for this year's contest:

Anybody out there that sews (I think that’d be you, Laura Lindeman, if you’re reading!) should have some fun and enter the contest. I’m going to. Rules and deadlines are posted on the website. And they have some neat free projects and articles for anyone interested.

I needed a new project, so this is good incentive to get started on something.

Dress Success!

I have pictures of the dress I just finished (and wore to work today)

My inspiration was this dress below that I bought a couple years ago. It was one of my favorite dresses but doesn't fit anymore. So I decided to make my own version.

And here's the final product

I am happy with it, and very proud of the tucks on the middle front panel. Which just shows my lines are getting straighter

In other news, my cousin's 4 year old birthday party had a surprise visitor.

That's tween sensation Justin Beiber for those of you (me included) that didn't know. He's a little taller in person than I expected. We're tight now.

Project Runway

Last Thursday was the season premiere for Project Runway Season 9. I haven't watched this show in years...I didn't even realize it was still on. But it is still on and comes on Lifetime now, which is odd cause I thought they only showed overly dramatic made-for-TV movies...Anywho, Project Runway is like all those other reality TV show competitions, except in this one they're not cooking or wooing, they're SEWING!

I'd like to say I'm not a fan of reality TV, but I watch it nonetheless...so I guess it's my guilty pleasure. But this one is uniquely interesting cause it's about several designers that have different challenges every week of things to sew. For example, a challenge on a previous season was to take a hideous bridesmaid dress and refashion it into a nice dress normal people would actually wear. Then of course people get eliminated and there's eventually a winner and they get some big prize.

It's a little dramatic. I just want to watch them sew and see what how it all turns out, I don't care too much for the interpersonal drama. But I still enjoy it, and it keeps me motivated to sew. I've been sewing non-stop and finished a dress today. Hope to have pictures soon!

A Little Ditty in My Head...

I love music. I have no musical ability whatsoever, but I did use to dance…which is somewhat related, right? Well, I at least have rhythm.

When I was younger, my sister took me to tons of concerts. Some of my favorite memories are of our road trips to concerts, waiting outside to get in early and be at the front of the crowd, and standing for 3+ hours in hot sweaty crowds of people screaming out the lyrics along with the band on stage. Though I probably have permanent hearing loss from the times we spent in front of blaring speakers, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. There’s just something invigorating about literally feeling the music reverberate through your body, and dancing without a care.

Now my music enjoyment is limited to doing a boogie in my office chair while streaming Pandora radio on my iPhone at work. But thank goodness for Pandora! Without it, my music horizons would be severely stunted. If you don’t know of Pandora, it’s a radio that creates a station around music you like. You don’t get to choose what you hear, it just plays songs similar to the ones you tell it you like. And that’s the best thing about Pandora: it introduces me to new music! And the cool thing is you can build the station around multiple musical influences. For example, the station I listen to is Mumford & Sons combined with Florence + the Machine. After many attempts, this is my ideal station. Pretty much everything they play I love.

Now I can’t make it through the day without my Pandora station. And I’m infuriated when the bad cell service in my office building interrupts my soundtrack. But I make do.

And because I feel the need to show you how cool I am because I listen to cool music, here is a list of bands I’ve discovered through Pandora that are worth checking out:

Florence + the Machine

Regina Spektor

Kate Nash

Lily Allen

Vampire Weekend

Old 97s

Adele

Two Door Cinema Club

Josh Ritter

The bad thing is, now that I’ve found all these artists, I’d like to own their albums to avoid the aforementioned musical interruptions, but it’s too much money to buy them all. I guess I’ll just count to ten and wait for my signal to come back.

A Successful Experiment

After this dress I made, I had a good bit of fabric left over. Turns out, to make a baby outfit doesn't take much fabric at all. So I decided to play around with it and maybe make a skirt. And something actually turned out.

I didn't feel like putting any closures on it, so the waste-band just ties. It was pretty simple, and I actually like it. I wore it to work today.

In other news our garden is flourishing!

Our cucumber plant is growing like crazy!

These plants are too neat - they shoot out these tendrils and grab whatever they can

It's produced many flowers but no fruit yet. 

Our jalapenos! (Ok, we bought the plant with a couple already on it, but we've kept it alive!)

Our lovely basil with flowers. I've been told to pick the flowers off so it will keep growing

Vacay to Chatty

Ben and I took a vacation this summer with some friends to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. We actually stayed in Fort Payne, Alabama, and drove up to Chatty for a day, and visited a few other towns around.

The first necessary task to the beginning of any trip is taking the dogs to the kennel. Our precious puppies are bestowed into the care of our vet, and then we don’t have to worry about them while we’re gone. The cat though, she’s just on her own. No, we did get Ben’s brother to come take care of her and the garden while we were gone. 

Colby and Jackson love riding in the car...until they realize where they're going

Next, before you leave town, you must have car snacks

Yes, these were just for me. No, I didn't share. Yes, I ate them all.

We stayed at a cabin outside of Fort Payne. It was an actual log cabin that the owners built themselves. The antique décor was very reminiscent of my grandmother’s house. We enjoyed the front porch with rocking chairs, and the back porch with a hot tub. It was a really great little cabin.

Another thing every trip needs: livestock as next door neighbors. Apparently the people that own the cabins we were staying at keep goats as their pets and lawnmowers. Lots of goats. We could see them from our porch, and had fun “baaaing” at them, and hearing them “baaa” back. Every time we came up to the fence they ran up to see what we had for them to eat, though we just disappointed. They were pretty funny to watch.

The next critical thing for any trip: get sunburnt and sore your first day of vacation. We spent one day playing around at Little River Canyon. It’s a beautiful waterfall that we hiked down to and spent the day swimming below the falls. My first time to get in the water all summer, so it was great! Though we forgot the sunscreen and were all pretty red by the end of the day, with sore muscles from swimming and climbing all over the rocks. Sadly no pictures cause of the water factor.

We went to Chattanooga the next day for some beautiful views from atop Lookout Mountain.

We went to eat lunch at a really cute café on the mountain. Ben suggested we get some calamari. He had had it before and knew he liked it, and the rest of us were up for trying it. It comes out looking like any other fried food. I tried a few bites, and it was ok but a little chewy for my taste…but when I saw the tiny little squid still whole in the middle of the pile, I couldn’t eat anymore. Kudos to Super Hubs for not being grossed out. 

Then we visited the Tennessee Aquarium, which we’ve been to a few times now, but is always a treat to see. I especially enjoy the hands-on exhibits, like where I get to pet stingrays! They gave us shrimp to feed them, and we tried, but they weren’t interested in us. I guess they’d already had enough to eat.

Lots of awesome things to see, like one of my favorites: penguins!

and jellyfish, which are super cool to look at, but I would definitely not want to see one in water I’m swimming in.

and super chilaxed alligators

One neat thing about Chattanooga is they have a lot of brick sculptures all around downtown.

We had dinner at a local brewery/restaurant, which was super neat. The fun thing about eating at a brewery is trying their beers that you can’t get anywhere else.

And your final essential: plan to do a bunch of things in one day, but make sure that all those places will be closed by the time you get to them. Saturday we had a full day planned of shopping. First we visited the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. This is where all the lost and unclaimed luggage gets sent and you can buy it for a steal. They literally have everything: from clothes to books to kitchenware. They even have some food, though I wasn’t too keen on buying any of that. Ben and I scored some slip-covers for our wingback chairs, and our friends found some good clothing deals. 

Following that we tried to find lunch. Note for future reference: apparently NOTHING is open in small-town America on Saturdays. We drove around for about an hour and a half through several cities trying to find somewhere to eat lunch that wasn’t fast food (though there wasn’t much of that either). I enjoyed eating at the local places, so we pressed on and finally found a café that was fifteen minutes from ending their lunch hours. We made it just in time and the food was delicious!

After that we tried to go to Trade Day, which is just a GIANT flea market, but by the time we made it there, there wasn’t a single vendor left. Apparently it had started at the crack of dawn and wrapped up around lunch. Next stop was an antique store in Fort Payne, but by the time we made it there, it was closed. Then we were going to try to go to a glass-blowing shop, but by the time we would have made it there, it would’ve been closed. Finally, we had nothing else to try to do and went back to the cabin to relax.

And then we came home. Overall a wonderful vacation, and much-needed break from work and life. But is so nice to be home. 

A little bit of cute

So I have two nephews and one brand new two month old niece. Finally, a little girl! Girl clothes are just so dadgum adorable, I just can't help fawning over them in the stores. And now I finally have a reason to make baby girl clothes. Oh yay!

So I had a design that popped in my head after I bought that adorable green cheap fabric the other day. And I ended up with this

It turned out exactly how I wanted...except way too big for a two month old! Oh well, at least babies grow a lot and grow fast. So at some point it will fit her, I just hope that it's not December. It's just a jumper dress with the white lining with ruffle at the bottom of the lining, buttons on the straps to get on and off.

So I would claim this one as a success because it turned out like the picture in my head, and it will fit (eventually).

I was reading some old posts about sewing projects, and recalling the struggles and frustrations I've experienced. And compared to my recent projects, I can really tell I've learned a lot and I am slowly but surely getting better. It's so encouraging, and just makes me want to keep sewing! So on to the next project - a dress for me with that other fabric I just bought. But that will have to wait til after vacation with friends in Chattanooga later this week. Pictures to come!

Wiiiii!

I would agree with most people that being active is good, especially when I have a weakness for cake and ice cream. But besides thinking about it, doing it is a whole other story. It is so difficult to get up the motivation to go to the gym, and it's way too Mississippi-hot to do anything outside.

So what is a better idea than a fitness workout video game? I want that! I stole borrowed Wii Fit from my brother...last December. Today, in July, I finally decided to try it out.

First perks, I get to play my Wii and I get to workout in the air conditioning of my own home. I also get to try out workouts, like yoga, that I would be too intimidated to do in front of other people. And trust me, you do look ridiculous doing the yoga, the step aerobics, and balance exercises. But you get to play a video game!

So today was my first day to try it out. And I go on vacation in two days, so we'll see if my early hiatus will disrupt plans to make this a regular workout. But I am a fan of video games that keep me in shape!

Social Crafting

My church has a women’s ministry that is growing increasingly more active. We’ve been trying to do lots to get the ladies together often, including a spring retreat, a Saturday brunch, and last night a craft night. I was so excited for this event!

So several of us toted our sewing machines, others brought their knitting needles, some brought cross-stitch, and everybody else just came to hang out at the church for an evening of fellowship. It was so much fun to see what other people were working on, and to have some company while I sew.

I discovered though, that while I enjoy the company, I get distracted too easily, and end up sewing the wrong stitches, and things backwards. Oops! So perhaps it’s better for me to sew holed up in our little office at home if I actually want to be productive. Nevertheless, we had a great time.


A few ladies sewing on several projects



The back circle was the knitting, etc group, and the front
circle were just hanging out and writing note to our missionaries



Pulling a Fast One

My office offers the wonderful option of a flex-time schedule. This means that I have to work 8 hours (plus 30 minute lunch) everyday, but I can come in whenever I want between the hours of 6 and 9 am. Though this was originally put into practice by the union to accommodate working mothers, I take full advantage of it.

The idea of going in at 6 and getting off at 2:30 is stupendous! Actually doing it is a little rough though. I have never been able to do it. I started trying last winter. But I found that I just can’t get out of bed when it’s still dark outside. My body refuses. Quite frankly, it’s just unnatural. There’s no reason we should be up before the sun. Unless, of course, I want to be home sooner in the afternoons. But how can I make the sun rise earlier?

Ben has been reading this book called Flanagan’s Smart Home: The 98 Essentials for Starting Out, Starting Over, Scaling Back. Basically it narrows down your entire house full of crap to 98 necessary things, as well as provides suggestions on increasing the quality of life. One thing Ben has read about is how to wake up in the morning. Instead of jumping out of bed to a blaring alarm clock that’s sets your adrenaline running, the book suggests using a lamp timer that turns the lamp on about 30 minutes prior to when you want to get up. Your body naturally wakes up to the light – and you’re able to avoid the jarring discord of that god-awful alarm.

So with this tip we have figured out how to trick my body into getting up earlier. I wake up to the light, and it’s not until I walk out of our bedroom that I realize how dark it still is. But then it’s too late! I’m off to the shower, into work early, and back home early! Then it’s like I still have a whole half of the day left to be at home with Ben.

*Ok, so I still haven’t actually made it in by 6 yet. But I’ve gotten in as early as 6:30, and I’m slowly working my way up to 6. Come on, give me a break, it’s 6 AM!

Now you see it...

...now you don't

Tada!

Bursts of Inspiration

I've had a dress design mulling around in my head for a while. I finally had a little money, and Hancock Fabrics was having a great sale, so I went over there to browse for a while. I saw so much I wanted and it was such a good sale, but I restrained myself and only bought a what I needed. Then I found some more on sale at Wal-Mart. I saw some fabric that was just so cute, I bought it on a whim and plan to make a dress with it as well.

The patterned fabric for two dresses, and accent fabrics for lining, ties, and straps

So now I've got two projects to keep me occupied for a while. Oh and I still haven't finished those curtains. But they're slowly coming along...

And Super Hubby has been busy on his own project. Our puppies needed a raised enclosed house, so Ben decided to build them a dog mansion - complete with a porch! It'll be perfect for them when it rains and when it's cold. And hopefully they'll use it other times too. Now we get to paint it! We're thinking bright orange...

With immense concentration of brain power alone, he put this together! (The drill is just a prop)

Jackson enjoying his new mansion

Ok, so he did use some power tools. And I got to help! Well, I was a deadweight to hold wood still while he was cutting. Ben said I'm just as good as any tool in a woodshop. 

Go Team Ratliff!

To Do List

 See all that junk? Yep, instead of cleaning it all up, we're just going to cover it up with a curtain made out of this

That's my next project.

And I'm wanting very much to make a dress...so hopefully soon I'll get started on that.

A Summer Crop

Update on the garden: Our watermelons are dying. Sad

In other news, my hair was super long. I mean loooooong.

This is me with my long hair and my Dad

I probably hadn't cut it in a year or so. I'm rather low-key when it comes to hair, the less I have to do, the better, and I hate paying someone to cut it. I even cut my own bangs cause I'm just that cheap.

But it was time to do something with my unruly mane. The cheapest deal I could find was the cosmetology school around the corner from our house. I realize that schools are cheap because students are cutting your hair, but I figured they can't mess it up that bad. Since I don't care too much about my hair to begin with, I could probably deal with however it turned out.

So I went after work on Thursday afternoon. Because my hair was so long, several of the students asked if I was sure, and why I was cutting it. They couldn't really understand the why, but it didn't matter.

When my stylist asked me what I wanted, I just said I want it short and I want to be able to wear it curly. Besides that, do whatever you like. He got very excited.

3 HOURS LATER I have a new do. Now in that absurdly long amount of time for a hair cut, I did get it washed, cut, blown dry, and straightened. And there were many people ogling at me as well. The stylist kept assuring me that it was cute, though I didn't see it until the end. This didn't actually reassure me at all, but made me rather nervous that he felt like he needed to reassure me.

But after much rough combing over my ears, a sore scalp, and one minor flat iron burn, I was happy with the outcome.

Of course, since I have curly hair, it will never look like this again cause I'm too lazy to straighten my hair. So it will generally look like this

It works. And it's perfect for the summer. Yay!

Trying Out My Green Thumb

We (meaning me, and I roped Ben into it) decided to have a weekend project.

We stopped by Lowe's.

Got some cucumbers, watermelon, cilantro, sweet basil, and Roma tomatoes.

And we made a garden

Keeping our fingers crossed for some successfully homegrown herbs and veggies.

And because that was more physical work than I've done in...I don't remember when, in the 1000 degree Mississippi heat, I'm going to go pass out on my bed now.

My Not-So-Secret Secret: Walk Like a Human

As I grow older, I’m discovering those stubborn areas of my body that like to retain mass more than other areas. Another joy of entering adulthood. It happens to us all, it is a way of life. But I am attempting to delay it.

Thankfully my place of employment offers a gym for use by employees. Thank you, President Obama. But as I muster up the energy for some cardio, I’ve found an easy quick-fix to looking better – stand up straight.

Growing up my sister and I heard the same refrain again and again: “Sit up straight or I’ll make you sit up straight.” My mother had concocted this zany invention that the nebulous They put on kids to correct their posture, and very frequently threatened us with it. It was a back brace with spikes that were just far enough away from your skin that they didn’t touch you as long as you kept perfect posture. But as soon as you slouched…OUCH! Yes, my mother came up with this. At least, I’ve yet to find one in real life. But I’m sure when I have kids I will want one.

Sadly though, her artful deception didn’t work. I still slouch. Ben even tried to fix me by making us keep our car seats sitting absolutely straight up. And now that we have our own vehicles, I lean that seat back as far as I want when I drive. If I think about it and catch myself, I will sit up straight…but that it rarely ever and only lasts about 2 seconds.

However there is hope! I have made a remarkable discovery. Did you know that you actually look better if you stand up straight? Believe it or not, clothes were not made for hunchbacks, but upright humans. When I started sewing, the first thing you learn about is how to fit clothes to your body properly by taking your measurements. One book I have spent a whole page talking about how good posture effects the way clothing fits you.

Perhaps my  mother was on to something with her devilry…

So often in a dressing room I am discouraged that this little dress was so lovely on the rack…but looks so horrid on me. Perhaps it is because I am standing like Quasimodo? After spending so much time sewing and shopping for clothes, I will admit that this is true. I tend to find more clothes I like and that fit me when I stand up.

So I realize that that helps, but I only do it when I am thinking about it…which isn’t that often. Obviously the ominous back brace didn’t work. How else can I just do it without having to think about it all the time?

Buy more expensive clothes. My nicer clothes tend to be less comfortable, so being uncomfortable from sitting up straight just seems to jive with the outfit. Also, I think there’s this subconscious thought that if I spent so much on this dress, I’m not going to look like a gorilla wearing it.

So as I fight the inevitable on the elliptical, I’ve got my strategy.

*Ben, I need some more money*

Yeah, I know that’s not going to work. Anyone interested in working on a prototype of that back brace?

My Genes are Defective

I was born in 1986. I don't like to admit it, but I am a Millenial, or part of Generation Y. As such, technology should be ingrained in my very DNA. I'm not a hacker or software developer, but I can do what needs to be done. I have a MacBook, an iPhone, a Kindle, a Wii. I get my news, books, music, and movies from the internet. I can answer any question anyone could possibly think up with my magic fingers and Google. I'm on Facebook, Gmail, and Blogspot. And just recently, Twitter.

I have just recently gotten a Twitter account. I'm not slow, I've known Twitter was always around. The first time I heard about it was at a magic show in college (Yes, magic show...in college. There was fire. And knives. Just trust me, it was cool.) The guy on stage mentioned he was going to tweet something. When he came back from intermission, he explained that no, that was not a sexual euphemism as someone had accused him of, but was how you post on Twitter.
But I just never saw the point.
Super Hubs told me I should get one, it's just fun, and finally I figured why not? Might as well see what all the hubbub is about. And now perhaps my generation will claim me.

But one interesting thing is I have had to learn how to use Twitter. That's not how it works. I should be able to figure it out because it was made for my brain.
And now I've noticed I'm asking Ben often for help with how to do this on the computer, or how to link this to my Facebook, or how to set this up on my Kindle, or how to change this on my iPhone.
That's not how it's supposed to work! My mom is the one that asks for help with technology, not me.

But I will not be dismayed. I'm going to gladly take it as a sign of adulthood that Ben's ten year old brother is more adept at using technology than I am.

@jxncait  #technogenes

I'm home!

I just returned from 4 weeks in Baltimore, MD for work. (Yes, it's been more than four weeks since I've blogged...I was just being lazy then). It was too long, and I am so glad to be home. While I was gone, Super Hubs struck again! Ben moved us into our new house and surprised me when I got back. I was SO happy to have missed the move (I hate moving). We've gotten a lot of unpacking done, but there's always more to do. Eventually our new place will be set up. 

We now live in the Broadmoor neighborhood by our church. We are so looking forward to being in the neighborhood and a part of the community. 

And our happy animals are enjoying living outside. Well, perhaps not enjoying it since the Mississippi heat has already reached into the 90s, but they are happy to be outside. Ben and I are as well.

Perks of the new house: 

- central air conditioning (we had window units in our other poorly-insultated house) 

- no loud college boys blasting techno at odd hours of the night

- fenced backyard for the dogs (Super Hubs built a sweet pen for the dogs)

- TWO (yes two) working toilets

- Outdoor living room, complete with beer fridge (We don't try to suppress the country, just let it out)

Yesterday was our anniversary! Two years married to the best husband ever. I can't believe how much I have grown as a person and we have grown as husband and wife in the past two years. It's amazing to watch God work in our lives.

What a wonderful day!

Since it's been so long, I'll have to catch you up on my sewing escapades as well. I haven't been sewing recently, except shortening and hemming some curtains, but I did have a couple successful sewing projects a while ago.

This was the fabric I had been saving up to buy. This isn't a great picture, but this is a wrap-around dress with ruffles on all the edges. The ruffles were much bigger than I expected, but overall I was happy. Next time I'll probably use thinner material and less ruffles.

There, that's much better. (And notice the change of background here? This is our new house!)

I'm still having issues picking out fabric that will look good once I'm wearing it...such as this nice little lime-green number. It's even brighter in person. And the pajama pants make a nice outfit. But it works, at least for summertime. It's a very simple, quick shirt. It was supposed to be a tank top but I added sleeves. I plan to make several in different fabrics for work, but will just stick to the tank top next time.

That's about it for now. Probably won't be sewing for a while as we continue to get settled, and get busy with summer activities - summer movies, baseball games, vacation in Chattanooga with friends, family visiting, and who knows what else!