first dress

I finally finished sewing my first dress! It was much easier to do it with detailed, step-by-step instructions from my mom than trying to figure it out myself by reading books and watching youtube tutorials like I did for my first failed attempt at a sewing project. Thanks, Mom - you are a natural teacher! Now I want to make another dress before I forget everything I learned...

sewing lessons

My mom is here to visit and I am finally learning how to sew! I actually learned how to sew in 7th grade home ec. class but I didn't retain any of it. I love having my mom teach me because it is second nature to her...she barely looks at the instructions! Hopefully in a couple of days I'll have a finished little dress to post a blog about.

cradle

My mom gave this wood cradle and doll to Meg for Christmas - she found it at a garage sale, painted it, then sewed all the bedding! Her neighbor even contributed by knitting a little blanket for it. This is a perfect gift and I love that it is semi-homemade!

the big clean-out

Every year after the holidays are over I get the urge to clean, organize, and throw things out. I think I am extra-motivated this year because I need to make space in the house for a new person. Granted, it will be a small person, but she will come with a lot of stuff! I have been tackling one room per day...6 down, 4 to go! (I'm not a natural clean-freak so I need to hang on to this momentum while I have it going.)

homemade whipped cream

Tonight we got to have dinner with some of Mark's extended family who is in town, and Mark's aunt made derby pie and homemade whipped cream. I told her how amazed I was that she just made her own whipped cream and she said she wondered why anybody ever bought it at the store because it is so easy to make! This is how she did it: one little container of whipping cream (the liquid kind near the half & half in the grocery), plus 2 tablespoons of sugar. Whisk it for a few minutes (2 or 3, I think) and voila...it becomes thick and perfect! Apparently it is helpful to use a cold metal bowl and whisk and apparently it is good to add a little burbon to it (Mark's family is from Louisville and they believe in adding burbon to a lot of things).

three cups of tea

I recently read Three Cups of Tea, an amazing true story about a mountain climber who, after becoming lost on his way down from K-2 stumbles upon a remote village in the Pakistani mountains and befriends the villagers in the 1990's. He returns to the U.S., works as an ER nurse and saves every extra penny, even living in his car in his pursuit to build a school for this village. I won't give it all away, but he succeeds in a major way. This is also really fascinating because he was in the northern Pakistan mountains at the time the Taliban came into the international consciousness.

happy new year!

I am trying to keep my resolutions short and sweet this year:
1. Read through the Bible chronologically.
2. Learn how to sew little dresses before Baby arrives.
3. Learn how to really use my camera before Baby arrives (right now I can only turn it on and click the button...).