I thought it would be fun to share a little bit more about myself with you. I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy it when my favorite bloggers share some of their personal life (not that I’m a favorite, but it’s still nice to read more about someone’s blog that you read).

Here are some random facts about me…

–I have an irrational FEAR of spiders! I do not like them…AT ALL! My husband (and eventually Brody) has been trained to kill them upon immediate discovery.

–I don’t like loud noises (firecrackers, thunder, balloons popping).  I hate the “jumping scared” feeling!  If I know the loud noise is coming, I’m good.

–I am not a fan of reading books.  I’ll read a magazine any day though (like the shortness of it and can walk away from it at any time).  If I read a book, it’s a self-help book (something that applies to my life).  I don’t have time to read, so I want to make it worth my while.

–I love watching it rain.  Doesn’t matter if it’s just drizzle or a full on soaking…just as long as it’s not accompanied by thunder.

–I used to play the flute (for 2 years).  I wish I would have stuck with it.

–I am a night person.  I come alive somewhere around 10:00PM.  I love staying up late while the house is quiet.  It’s the waking up in the morning part that I don’t like.

–I can’t wait for Brody to be in school so I can be active on the PTA or be a room mom.

–I wish I could keep a clean house.  I have OCD about everything being in it’s place, yet could care less about dust everywhere.  Go figure.

–In the winter I always have slippers on my feet, but once summer comes, I’m barefoot ALL of the time.

–In my dream home I have a playroom for all of Brody’s toys, a designated guest bedroom, and kitchen drawers that have the soft close feature.

–I wish I had time for more scrapbooking.

–I sleep with Brody’s monitor turned up because I need the white noise.  If he sneezes at night, it scares the crap out of me.  LOL!

–I love to cook, but hate the clean up (and time to prepare things…wish everything was instant).

–I was born and raised in Pekin, IL.  My parents still live in my childhood home.

–I was married 4 months after I turned 21.

–I am not a fan of traveling.  I hate the packing and unpacking and the airport!  I am a home body.

–I am a HUGE planner. Check lists, schedules, charts, etc. I hope to instill this into my children.

–I drive a 2006 Honda Odyssey and love it, but am secretly jealous of my husbands new sporty car (a 2004 Acura TL).

–I have a wonderful relationship with both of my parents.

–I love Twix.

–I just started watching (from the first episode) “How I Met Your Mother” just a couple of months ago.  I’m already in the middle of Season 5.  I love this show!

–When I was in Junior High, I had a pretty rebellious streak!

–I am very much in love with Jason. My heart still skips a beat when I see his number show up on caller ID during the day, or when I hear his car pull in after work.

–I am the happiest and at peace when my house is clean or I’m crafting something.

–Jason is my best friend. We have been through so much together, but there is no one else on Earth that I would rather walk through difficult times with than him. I’m so lucky to have him by my side. He is an incredible father to Brody and partner to me.

Okay! That was my turn! Now it’s your turn! I hope you will play along and won’t leave me hanging here. If you have a blog, do a similar post so we can get to know more about you and each other. Then come back and link them up here! I would love to learn some more about my readers!

This is definitely something I shouldn’t be proud of, but I am.  Stupid gimmicks that just suck you in.

A few months back, I met Charlie at Starbucks.  He works there and is one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet (almost fake nice).  We got to talking about the gift card I was using to buy my coffee.  He asked if I had registered this card.  Nope, I hadn’t…didn’t see the value in doing so since I hadn’t planned on “loading” it up with more money to spend.

He then proceeded to show me his GOLD card (with his name on it) and explained it to me.

I know, it’s not completely glamorous, but I did it.  My addiction to Starbucks this past year has gotten me GOLD status.  LOL!  This is about as exciting as my life gets.

How Can You Get A GOLD Card?
Registering your Starbucks Card signs you up to enjoy My Starbucks Rewards. You also protect the balance of your card if it’s lost or stolen.  This will automatically enter you into the Welcome level of the program, which means you’ll receive a free birthday beverage.

Once you have visited and used your card five times (which earns you 5 Stars), you will move into the Green level, where you will receive the following benefits:

• All Welcome level benefits
• Free select syrups and milk options such as soy
• Free refills on brewed coffee or tea
• Free tall (12 fl oz) beverage with one pound of whole bean coffee purchase
• Special exclusive offers and coupons

After you earn 30 Stars (25 additional Stars after initially qualifying for Green level), you will qualify for the Gold level.  At this level you earn the following benefits:

• All Welcome and Green level benefits
• An exclusive, personalized card (unavailable in stores) and Welcome Packet
• The ability to earn a free drink after every 15 Stars.

Do you have a hero in your life, a person who inspires you, or someone you just look up to and wish you could be more like?  I’ve had many throughout my life, sometimes multiple people that inspire me in different ways.  I just wanted to take a minute to mention one of these people in my life.  My sister, Jill.

To make a long story short, my sister is now a single Mom of three kids (14,10, and 4).  Her divorce was finalized in April of 2009.  While this was not her choice, this choice has impacted her life in many ways, including having to go back to work after being a stay-at-home Mom for 10 years.  My sister works as the Secretary of the local grade school in the town that she lives in.  It is a very demanding job, yet she does it with a smile on her face (often taking work home or working while she should be having some “me” time).

Last night she emailed me a letter that she has wrote to every single person that she works with at the grade school.  She felt prompted by God to give every person a book and wrote this letter to go with it.  This book is called “Jesus Calling”.  It is an incredible book and I highly recommend getting a copy for yourself (a short daily devotional that seems to just speak to you in the moment when you need it the most).

In her letter to the staff, she mentions how she’s a planner, even planning out the next 30 years of her life.  She then paints a word picture that completely blew me away.  Here is a portion of this letter:

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“You may know this about me:  I’m a “planner” through and through.  Whether it is in my work day or my life, I like to have a plan.  I can plan my life out 30 years in my mind.  In fact, I did.  Call it “my plan” or “my dreams” or even “my to-do list”.  This is what it looked like (the bolded items are things  she has been able to check off in her life and the non-bolded items are things that she won’t be checking off that she had planned on):

• Go to college to get a 4-year degree in finance. (My dad was a banker, and I loved it!)
• Get married. (My 2nd major in college was “a man”. It was even on my H.S. graduation cake!)
• Buy a house. (We did.  I called our first home my “white picket fence” house…adorable!)
• Start a family. (Abby is now 14-years-old, Andrew is 10, and Allie is 4.)
• Be a stay-at-home mom. (I was blessed to have this “job” for 10 years!).
• Go back to work after our youngest started school.
• Our children will get married (and we will be at the wedding as one happy family).
• Become grandparents! Take our grandkids on trips with us. Spoil them!
• Retire and grow old together…FOREVER.

Going through a divorce was not in “my plan” at all.  It changed so much of what I had dreamed of for my future.  However, I can honestly say that I have learned so much through my life journey…especially over these past few years.  I have so many cool “God stories””.

—————————————————————

My sister is a very positive person.  How she can stay so positive is beyond me.  Heck, I break a nail and all positivity goes out the window with me.  LOL!  Anyway, reading my sisters list made me stop and think.  I had never thought about how much her future was going to change.  That she had already “planned” out her future and was looking forward to seeing those things happen.

So while this new year is already here.  I challenge you to look at the positive in it and all that’s yet to come.  To smile in the face of change and look for the positive in it.  To re-dream and re-plan out your future if necessary.  Life is what you make of it.  Do you want to live a happy life or have life drag you down?  It’s your choice.  What choice are you going to make?  I choose to live like my sister and take on her example.  Thanks Sis for setting such an incredible example!

….a car!

We are saying goodbye to our 1996 Pontiac Sunfire GT.  It’s not going far though.  We’re giving it to our friends, so we’ll have visiting rights.  LOL!  This was my very first new car purchase.  I purchased it right before Jason and I were engaged.  It has been a great little car!  We’re thrilled that someone else is able to get some use out of it too and we hope it has many years left.

Our new vehicle is a 2004 Acura TL.  Why the new (used) car?  It was time for a 4-door.  We had first planned to get another “beater” car as Dave Ramsey calls it.  Just something to get us from point A to B and back, but the more we talked about the use we really wanted to get out of this new car, the more we felt we needed something a bit more reliable than a $2,000 beater car.

We were looking for a car that had 4-doors (a must!).  A Honda (Acura is in the same family).  A car large enough to accommodate a car seat comfortably.  A car that could get us around town as a family.  Something for the shorter rides (an hour or so, maybe even longer) or quick stops (running quick errands around town).  A car that gets better gas mileage than our minivan.  A car that is reliable and safe for our family to travel in.

After much search over the past few months (thinking we were getting a 2005 Honda Accord), we came across this Acura TL and fell in love.  We’ve been sitting on this find for a few weeks now and started seriously considering it just over a week ago.  We made the deal this past weekend and have requested a few things to be done to the car before we take over ownership.  We should have it in our possession by the weekend and looking forward to taking it out on the road for a test drive (all of us together).

Meet our new car…

I need your advice.

I finally took a look at the new fabric that I ordered (the fabric for the binding, the one that I didn’t calculate correctly and am short on).  I was checking it out late last night (hoping I was too tired and my mind was just playing tricks on me) and noticed that they aren’t even the same color.  WHAT!

I went back to Etsy (where I purchased both fabrics from different sellers…they are both the exact same name of fabric and supposedly suppose to be the same fabric).  Does anyone else see the difference?

The background browns are different shades of brown and the circles are completely a different color (one is more gray and the other is more tan).  AND (as weird as this sounds), I think the circles on one of them is a bit thicker than the other.  How can this be?  *sigh*

I know…they were on different bolts, printed at a different time, blah, blah, blah.   So, my question is this…

Do I use the new fabric for the binding (the fabric that doesn’t even match what is used quite a bit in the quilt already)?  It doesn’t clash or anything, but it’s noticeably different.  OR…do I go back to the first Etsy seller and buy more fabric from her to hopefully get the same lot and they match and sell or use this new (unmatched) fabric for something else.  Would it bother you or make a difference?  It IS just the binding, right?

Oh…and in case you’re wondering…the fabric that I’ve used in the quilt already is the one on the top or left-hand side.

I started off great with Brody’s onesie quilt and have just stalled.  I haven’t touched it in at least a week.  *sigh*  I guess I was thinking I would finish it too quickly and still have to wait on the fabric for the binding, but that came within a couple of days, so I’m not sure what my excuse is now.  LOL!

So, here’s a picture of my very slow progress and how it looks sitting on my project table (nice care for an heirloom….wadded up on my table).