grateful friday and a contest...


whipup

so...first a contest.

whipup.net is having a contest called whiplash.

this week's challenge is called everyday creativity.
i made this blanket last night for my sister in law's baby shower
and thought that maybe i would enter it in the contest...
purely out of curiousity, of course.
:)







i made this blanket before
but i cut the edges and tied them
to make a fringe
and sadly, it made the blanket
too small for my liking...

this time, i put batting inside and
tried to quilt it, kind of, i think....

this is how the back of it looked...

this was the homemade cross-stitch tag attached...

and a glimpse of the accompanying card...

and on the grateful friday side:
-a lent-to-me copy of "secret life of bees"
-the ownership of my magic-always-makes-me-feel-good-about-me jeans
-a baby shower full of laughter and fun and meeting new people
-a day off
-a husband's sweet support for my change of career
-an anticipated night out tomorrow night, even if it is only until 10:30

polar bears!

my other sister-in-law is expecting a baby
next month
and i made this polar bear to accompany her
shower gift for this friday...
i'm pretty happy with how he turned out,
it's my first time making anything
stuffed...

i got the pattern from this book
its called 50 toys to make
but i couldn't find it listed on amazon
anymore although other of Petra Boase's books were.

now i'm off to enjoy a day of solitude and shopping
(well, solitude until 3 when the kids get out of school, heh)
and its going to be a
beautiful day
:)

great-grateful-balls-of-friday!

so not only is today grateful friday
but it is also my
one year blog anniversary...
it is hard for me to beleive that i started this blog
a year ago
today...

so much has changed.

when i started my blog,
it was really a fluke...
a fancy...
a passing notion that
perhaps i could type my bitterness away.

i wanted a house of my own.

i blogged my frustration
and bitterness and anxiety
and fear and envy and despair.
i blogged only for me in the beginning.

but then i began to see it as an outlet
and a release and a venue...
i wrote about my sudden shock of my
grandparents house being torn down...
i wrote about the funniness of the kids in my house...
i wrote about bad memories and good memories
that came wrapped up in a bad memory box...
i dealt and imagined and played and justified...
i was funny, damn it...i was FUNNY...

and at times...it wasn't funny...
i had actually forgotten that i had written this
until i read it just now...
i feel a little flabbergasted
a little...um...did this happen to me?
this did happen to me.
hmph.

but then, i read something else i didn't remember
and perspectives shift yet again...
and i see the tides beginning to change...

so what i am grateful for today
encompasses a year's worth of blogging...

-the reality and sweetness of finally owning our own home
-the fact the ups occur with more consistency than the downs
within my marriage
-the health and happiness and funniness that are "six" and "ten"
-friends i have made along the way: michelle, liz elayne, bohemian girl,
heather, christina, so many more and new ones every day...i would love to link
to everyone but i am afraid this would become an epic novel...and i know you
don't want it to be any lengthier than it has already become!
-communities found and joined and involved in
-the possibility of a new job on the horizon :)

so...
suffice to say
this has been much wordier
and time consuming and contains
much more linkage than i ever thought
it would
but i am happy that i wrote it...

its kind of like my own personal
greatest hits album
and
who wouldn't want that?
heehee
and if you stuck with me
(not only through this long and laborious post)
but through the past year as well,
i hope you continue to come...
cause without all you guys,
its definately missing some of it's sweetness...

here's to year number two!