I'm Excited About: T-shirt Quilt Update Edition

Here is the long awaited update on the t-shirt quilt I'm making for Frank! I am 98% finished with the front of the quilt - I need to add the border to the top and bottom and then the front is 100% finished and I can move on to adding the back, the filling, and the quilting.

Here are all of the squares laid out on the floor from a few weeks ago. The order changed a bit in the final draft...


And here it is with the navy border and all in one piece!


It is hanging in the basement, please ignore the parts where the lines don't line up quite right. Frank says he doesn't mind, so I'm trying to just let it go.


The theme is mostly Dartmouth with a little Red Sox thrown in for good measure. There are a few other classics in there, too.


We're off to the fabric store today to find a suitable backing. Something soft and warm, but not so stretchy that I end up burning the entire project due to the endless frustration.

I'll update again when it is totally complete - hopefully before the end of May!

Failure

It has become clear to me that I need to schedule and plan out my blogging each week because if I wait for "something exciting" to happen I'm usually not near a computer and then I forget.

For now I'll promise to try harder. I'll also complain about the weather and tell you about my weekend plans.

The weather stinks! It is late April (almost May) and it is FREEZING here! As if this past winter wasn't torture enough, now spring pretends to arrive and then goes away again, making me pull sweaters and wool suits back out of storage.

Our house has been so cold for the past week that I've even considered switching back to the down comforter from the cotton one. Ugh.

This weekend is supposed to be nice...but I'll pack a coat just in case.

I'm going to Front Royal, VA for a women's retreat with our church. I'm pretty psyched about it for lots of reasons:
1. Lots of fun girls are going, we'll have a group of at least 8-10 in the 27-32 range.
2. S'mores on Saturday night.
3. A weekend long Beth Moore study on "loving well."
4. "free time" on Saturday during which I have been given permission to take a nap! (Thank goodness, I need the rest)
5. Back home by mid afternoon Sunday so I won't feel rushed on Monday.

I'm hoping and praying for nice weather, the kind where you wake up and it is a little chilly but the sun comes out and warms everything up nicely. But again, not holding my breath.

I'm Excited About: Weightloss Edition

So, in the last couple weeks something has happened to me. I gained weight. Like, a lot.

I always go through periods of craving sweets and salt, but for some reason it is lasting longer this time and my pants are getting tight. I think it has something to do with the fact that I keep "celebrating" things, and we all know what happens to 'eating well' when we're hanging with friends; burgers, fries, beers, biscuits, birthday cake, baby shower cupcakes, etc.

We're going to the Outer Banks for Memorial Day weekend in 5 weeks and it is my goal to lose the extra poundage I've acquired by then. My plan involves working out regularly (my gym at work finally got a bike, yay!), cut the sweets, decrease bread (that includes fries), and watch added sodium.

I have all of the tools, including good food for lunches at work, now lets see if I can pull (or work) it off!

Ralph Wiggum 2.0

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the popular animated tv show "The Simpsons," and even with the lovable classmate of Bart's named Ralph Wiggum. Ralph has a high pitched voice and says things that usually could go without saying.

I have a particular love for little Ralph because of the nonsense he spews and because of a time in my life when my little brother and his friend would spout off Ralph's quotes at random. Some of my favorites are:

"When I grow up I want to be a teacher, or a caterpillar"

"My fingers taste like fish sticks"

"I sleep in a drawer"

Well, I have good news - there is a new Ralph Wiggum (2.0 if you will) on tv and her name is Brittany. She is a spacey cheerleader and member of the glee club on Glee. So far this season she has given us:

"Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?"

"Sometimes I forget my middle name"

"Her sweater makes her look home schooled"

"When I pulled my hamstring I went to a misogynist"

I love this character, and I hope she keeps delivering these lines!

My Very Own Yard Slave

Hamilton helped me cut the grass the other day.

Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

Green paws and a worn out puppy - proof that he "helped" by running away from the lawn mower for the entire 10 minutes it took to cut the back yard.

Bachelorette, Birthday, Bar Golf, Oh My!

A visual summary of my last two weekends, and the cake in the middle!

Glee!

So, a few months ago when Frank and I moved back to Arlington we gave up cable tv. We used to pay way too much money for Comcast because we have an awesome television so naturally we had to get the HD service and DVR and a million channels, etc etc.

Anyway, we thought we'd give 'no cable' a try. So far, we've cut our monthly bill by $100 a month, signed up for Netflix, and caved and bought a digital converter box (modern day rabbit ears).

When we, and by we I mean Frank, bought the converter box I was happily reunited with some of the simple pleasures in life; Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Alex Trebek, etc. But, tonight I'm being reunited with GLEE!

And if Frank finds out, the digital converter box may disappear - so try to keep it on the down low for a few more hours, ok?

I'm Excited About: Party and a (friend's) Baby Edition

First - this weekend I'm off to celebrate my friend Mary Eileen. She is such an awesome lady that I'm getting on a plane to NC to hang with her and some of her best friends for the weekend as we excitedly celebrate her upcoming wedding. I'm so very happy for her and thrilled to be able to count her as my friend.

We're all going to have a blast and I'm hoping that this weekend only comes in a close second to her wedding weekend in July.

Second - I get to meet a sweet little girl this weekend and I can't wait to get my hands on her! She belongs to a sweet friend of mine that I don't get to see nearly as much as I'd like. What a treat to get to celebrate two huge life changing events with two different friends in one weekend!

Off to the airport, what a great trip!

Cotton Anniversary

Monday, March 29th was our 2nd anniversary, which, according to tradition, is the "cotton" anniversary.

Frank gave me a beautiful bathrobe (exactly what I wanted), and I decided I would start making his t-shirt quilt. I know you should have the gift ready for the occasion, and I'm usually a big stickler for that...but I failed. Luckily, my husband is a pretty cool dude and he is happy to accept the gift at a slightly delayed date.

Here is what I have so far:

In case you aren't sure what you're looking at...you're looking at 20 t-shirt squares all cut to approximately the same size. They all have iron-on interfacing on the back which is what will save me from wanting to kill people later. If anyone reading this has ever tried to sew with knit, you know what I'm talking about.

I purchased navy cotton to be the borders between all of the shirts - we're still undecided on what the back/underside will be.

Here's hoping this gets done as quickly as I'd like. I need to have time to come up with something for next year!

Easter al fresco

After the Easter services we invited a handful of friends over for dinner. And when I say a handful, I actually mean 22. Technically we invited 26 people, but 4 people had plans already.

Hamilton figured it would be a tough day so he took a nap to power up.

No, he isn't dead. And yes, that is a tennis ball right in front of him and he couldn't care less.

My flowers knew it was Easter Sunday and they cooperated.

And when I say 22 people, I really mean 24 because there were two babies - with a combined weight of 17lbs! One of them is about 6 weeks old and was wearing a darling pale pink dress...

And the other one was born on Wednesday - yeah, like this past Wednesday - and she was wearing green eyelet! They are both adorable babies and they got passed around like hot potatoes!

We had so much fun playing bocce, eating amazing food, and just hanging out. Seems that Easter Dinner at the Webbs may catch on and become tradition - we've done it two years in a row now, so check back in a year and see if we can keep it up!

Easter at Cherrydale

Easter Sunday was our first day in the new sanctuary at Cherrydale, and it was beautiful! Here is a glimpse of our new sanctuary from the balcony.


I played my violin in all three services - I was terrified because it has been so long since I played - so I spent about 5 hours at church and got to hear the sermon and testimony 3 times. It was fantastic! I love a good Easter sermon, and Pastor King really knows how to give 'em.


I love Easter Sunday for so many reasons, but one of the things I like best is that every church is packed to the gills for every service.

The message we get to hear at Easter every year is one of the best! I know that many churches have members that can't come every week; missionaries, shut ins, some who are too sick or elderly, and I love seeing so many of them at the holidays. Some people just aren't church-goers for any number of reasons, but I love seeing those people, too! Having a full church didn't help my nervousness on the violin, I just hope I didn't scare anyone off.


If seeing a large crowd that morning, or knowing that it is one of the High Holy Days, or having family in town, or plain old curiosity is what brings people into church for those holidays, that is fine with me. Easter is such an amazing opportunity for the church membership to reach out to others in the community and to give them the chance to hear the Good News, to maybe have a seed of faith or hope planted in their hearts.

The sounds of metal folding chairs being brought in is music to my ears on these special days. I loved seeing a full house this Sunday! I thought it was crazy that we had to bring in extra chairs in the brand new (bigger) sanctuary, and I'm so glad that that many people came to hear the Good News!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday full of hope and joy. And I hope you took time to say 'hi' to a couple church visitors, you never know what a smiling face and welcoming hand shake can do when God is involved.

This is a picture of our new sanctuary from the outside. There is more work to be done, but we're so grateful for the new space and the growth that Cherrydale has been experiencing that made this new space necessary! I hope we keep growing and growing and growing - and as many babies as I saw on Sunday I'd say we're growing!


I hope that Frank and I can share this great church with more and more of our friends here. We've made so many wonderful friends at the church, I think it is time we start sharing our church with our friends! Let me know if you are looking for a good place to worship, cause I've got one for you - and they won't let you off easy, either, get ready for a new wave of friends when you come!

Saturday Activities

Today I have:

-finished painting the living room
-swept and vacuumed then entire house
-done laundry (still going)
-swapped out winter clothes for spring/summer clothes (for me and Frank)
-picked up a table for Easter dinner

Today I still need to:

-do more laundry
-go to Easter service rehearsal (violin)
-clean the kitchen
-find a table cloth for the table tomorrow
-shower
-hang a curtain rod
-find more chairs

How has your Saturday been?