Chevron Afghans

Long before Chevron was 'the thing' - I was making Chevron afghans - but back then we just called them 'zig-zag'!  Isn't it funny how things circle back around, but we call it something else to make it seem new and different?!  Hip-huggers (which I also lived through) came back as 'low-rise' pants, bell-bottoms are now flare and so on!  So enjoy some of my personal Chevron blankets (formerly known as afghans!). 

This was the first afghan I ever made.  It was in the early 70's and I was so happy with the colors!  Seriously?!  But really, the orange, yellow and brown were all the rage.  How many of you remember that orangeish-brownish kitchen carpet that was all the rage?  We used to call it 'pizza carpet' because we figured you could drop a pizza on it and never find it!

In the mid-70's my mother made this one.  It is big enough for a queen-size bed.  She had a tight stitch, so it's thick and heavy.  Perfect for a cold night and hot chocolate!

And this is one I made just a few years ago.

I never knew I was so stylish!  I've always considered myself 'behind the curve' when new fashions or styles come about - but maybe this time I was way ahead of the curve!

I'm sure the Chevron Company is enjoying all of the extra advertising!

What other 'old' things can you think of that have come back into style with a different name?

New Furniture

Do you know when the last time it was that we purchased a bedroom set?  Um.  Never!  When we got married we were given the bedroom set that had been his grandparents.  It was made back in the day when they stitched your name in the mattress.  Like this!  Amazing isn't it?  But it's old enough that it truly was like grandma's feather bed.  Very soft.  And low.  And old!

So......we bit the bullet.  After looking at this bedroom set for a couple of years, we did it.  We. Purchased. It.  It's Amish made.  We ordered it from our local furniture store, who then put the order in to the company in Ohio that makes them.  From scratch.  They grow their own trees!  It is beautiful furniture.  And Homestyle Furniture inspected it with a fine tooth comb when it came in after 10 very LONG weeks of waiting.  There were a couple of small imperfections, which to them were unacceptable.  A small varnish run, and small places where the wood had been chipped during assembly.  The bed was put together for us today, but a new headboard and footboard have been ordered and will be here the end of May.

It smells wonderfully new.  It's beautiful.  And we have room for everything.  No more stuff sitting on the floor because there's no place to put it.  This is something I never thought I would have, and I think how much my own mother would have loved this furniture set.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

May snowstorms bring......?

 Seriously Mother Nature?  I am NOT impressed!  Some of these snowflakes have been golf ball sized.  They are HUGE!  My lilacs are just ready to pop.  I'm thinking instead that they will stay inside of their protective bud and die.  Instead of beautiful purple blooms, I anticipate dead, brown bud pods.  It makes me so sad.  They are predicting 3-5" by tomorrow morning.  Wouldn't it be crazy if we had a snow day in MAY!   I'll keep you updated.  Someone needs to send Mother Nature chocolate!

Screen-free Week - happening NOW!

When we moved into our home almost 20 years ago - we did so on a tight budget.  We had been renting previously and enjoyed cable tv.  We didn't watch tv a lot - but probably more than we needed to.  It was easy to let our daughters sit down to watch their favorite shows, knowing they were occupied and allowing me uninterrupted time to get things done around the house.

So when we made the move - cable tv was one thing we felt we could do without to save some pennies.  I will admit - the first couple of weeks were a little tough - but I am so glad we made that choice and stuck with it.  Now don't get me wrong.  We still had tv and we still watched it.  But we went from having many channels to watch to having two or three.  Our choices were limited, so it became very easy to limit our time sitting in front of it.  Even then, we set limits on how much tv our girls could watch.  I remember them figuring out which shows were the most important to them - which ones did they REALLY want to watch, and which ones suddenly weren't as important when they had to pick and choose.

It wasn't long before amazing things began to happen in our family.  We spent more time doing things together.  We played games inside and outside!  We went for walks, rode bikes, roller skated, played badminton, went to the park, went swimming.  We found ourselves sitting around the table after meals just talking.  So many things became a part of our lives that we hadn't 'had time for' previously.  Even though our girls had both been good readers prior to this - they now had more time to read.  It was wonderful to walk by the living room and see them curled up somewhere with a book in their hands.

And now - all these years later - it does my heart good when we go to our daughters' homes and see the stacks of games they have collected.   And when we asked once what family traditions meant the most to them - one of the things on the top of their lists was playing games together as a family.

So I encourage you to take the pledge!  Turn the tv off for a week.  Do something different as a family during those times when you would normally be parked in front of the tv.  And on top of that - you  won't have to listen to all of those annoying commercials!   You could take it a step farther and turn off your electronics also.  No computer games, youtube, facebook, gaming systems.  What would you accomplish if you weren't spending so much of your time 'online' or watching tv?  

See what it does for your family.  I believe it changed ours for the better!  


Take the Screen-Free Week Pledge! | Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood

The Project

That's what we took to calling it.  A project we started four weeks ago to help friends get their house ready to sell.  It's being shown tomorrow - so we finished up almost everything tonight, just a few little things - but it is show worthy tonight. 

This is the sink in the laundry room.  Don and Brad had already cleaned the sink a little before I tackled it.  It had layers and spatters of dried paint and other unidentified stuff.

One hour later - 1/4 can comet - 1 decimated scrub brush and 2 thumb nails that are now 'toast' = it's clean!

We won't talk about the casserole dish that was used as a paint pan.....Sandi - Ethan owes you a new one!

Almost every room ended up with at least 'something' painted.  Sometimes it was the whole room, sometimes just some touch up.  The deck needed quite a bit of touch up painting also - and it's HUGE!  Don and Brad did a GREAT job!

Say prayers for a quick sale!

The granite guys did an excellent job.

dining room

Love the tile in the bathrooms

This is our favorite room up stairs now

General Conference Study

I was perusing some of my favorite blogs the other day and saw a picture that just made my heart happy.  I don't know if it was the different colors that had been used, or the fact that my scriptures are beginning to look a little like this and I had just never thought of doing this with my conference edition of the Ensign - but I almost got giddy! 

See what I mean?  Looking at this Ensign just makes me happy!  I'm thinking a lot of personal revelation is happening with this kind of study of the talks from our prophets and apostles.  I don't know about you - but I could use some personal revelation right now.  There is something weighing heavy on my heart and I can't resolve it on my own.  I need some help. 

If you would like to feel the peace that comes from listening to modern-day prophets and apostles, I invite you to listen to the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this weekend.  Saturday and Sunday.  You can find the link here: and check on General Conference.  You can stream it on your computer, you can listen, or you can print off written transcripts of the talks that are given.  

I found this wonderful picture here:  and I think you should check it out.  You can download printables to help you study and take notes while conference is happening.  I think I'll just wait for my Ensign to come and will mark it up with pretty colors.  I may buy my markers tonight when I go shopping.  Thank you 'Simple Inspiration' blog.....I love your Ensign!

And - if you want to make Conference a time of celebration - check out this blog post from Emily Freeman found here.  I'll give you a hint:  it involves candy!  I'm all in!

Have a great week and a fabulous weekend.

 

I've been considering this thought a lot as of late.  I've had an issue with exercise and diet.  My issue is this:  I don't like to do it!  Neither one.  Nope!  But now I am starting to reap the consequences of not wanting to behave in these areas and do those things that I've known for a lot of years that I need to do.  My cholesterol is HIGH - on medication now.  My doctor just checked me for diabetes.  I refuse to take medication for that one.  If the results come back positive, I am determined to make those needed changes through - gasp - diet and exercise.  I've had some other issues in my life the last few years that have made exercise painful and most of the time, not worth the effort for the pain I endure afterwards.  BUT - I know if I can be persistent with my exercise, I would likely lose some weight, (which is needed), and in the process alleviate some of the painful side-effects I am having to trying to be more healthy.  

I may even need to seriously consider a surgery on my neck.  I went to a neurosurgeon two years ago who told me that I was a prime candidate for surgery at that time, but that it wasn't an absolute at that point....he told me I would know when it was time.  I'm almost there I think.  But it terrifies me.  Everything about it terrifies me.   The surgery itself - the risk of serious complications - the pain - the recovery - the 'what if's'.  That's what I have to work through before I can get to the point of having it done.   I'm getting closer....to even talk about it is getting closer!

I see so many elderly people who are using walkers, or the little motorized carts or who just sit and do nothing.  I. Don't. Want. That. To. Be. My. Life!!!   So --- it's time for some changes.  Aerobic exercise - 150 minutes/week to start.   (I know some of you probably do that in one or two days time - yay for you!  Keep it up!)   More fruits and vegetables (been doing this for several weeks now).  Lean protein.  High fiber (I'm ok here - I make my own granola and add freshly ground whole wheat to many of my recipes).  More water - less soda (as I'm eyeing my can of Mr. Pibb......  Cut down on artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup - and that's hard - because those two things are everywhere.  It means that we will be eating more home-made things - and less processed foods.  Nothing wrong with that!

And so this journey of persistently doing begins.  And I'm striving to have faith that with that persistence will come the power to continue forward, making those changes that I know will benefit me - not only now - but in my future.  

Happy is.....

 Happy is....
Spending time with family.   When we were in Utah two weeks ago when Don's mother passed away - we did get to spend time with family, and that's the BEST!

I love them all so very much.  I'm grateful for the 'sons' that I now get to enjoy and for all that they have added to our family.  And of course, this grand-baby is the best.  Looking forward to another one in June!

She had a runny nose - but isn't that a happy face?!  

She's standing on her own, and we saw her take her first solo step.  Soon she'll be running!

She LOVES phones, and Auntie Millie's was especially enthralling!

Playing with cousins - Abigail

and Savannah.

The dash....1921-2013

How do you measure a life?  We had an opportunity two weeks ago to consider that question.  My sweet mother-in-law passed quietly from this life to the next on Sunday, March 3.  When we knew her passing was imminent, we began remembering.  My mother passed away right before Don and I became engaged and his mother - Dorothy Daines Miller welcomed me into her family with no reservations.  She made me feel like I mattered - and often called to talk with me during the day when Don was at work - just to see how things were going.

She loved her family - her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren completely.  She loved their spouses equally as well.  She reached out to friends and neighbors, always making each one feel important.  She showed that care and concern with visits, treats and knitted slippers!

She will be missed - so very much.  But that 'dash' - the time between her birth and her death will be a part of each one who had any contact with her.  She was that kind of wonderful.  

Reading with grandchildren at a family reunion.  They all loved her.  She made each feel as though they were her favorite!

Ice cream was always the go-to treat when at grandma's house!

These grand-daughters had a sleep-over at grandma's house.  They wanted to spend time with her - and the patio was the perfect place to gather - not just for sleep-overs, but for family gatherings of all kinds.

And then there was Yellowstone!  It was a favorite place for the family to go when my husband was a child and it became a favorite place for the generations to follow!  We do love our Yellowstone trips!

As a final tribute of love, respect and devotion - her grandsons who served as pallbearers - lay their boutonnieres on her casket.

We'll miss you mom, grandma, grandma great, friend and neighbor, but your influence will live on in each of our lives. 

Cheeseburger Soup

Yesterday and today have been Snow Days!  Days when I didn't have to go to work.  We received 7-8" of snow here and that was definitely enough of an excuse to stay in pjs and enjoy some time at home.  Granted - I have a LOT of projects I am and should be working on: baby blankets and burp cloths for gifts and for the new grand-baby to be; a scrapbook that's been partially done for about 2.5 years now; cleaning - always cleaning; and organizing.  But instead of jumping right into any of that - I felt it was important to have a pot of hot, bubbly soup going on the stove.  We tried this recipe a few weeks ago and decided it was a keeper!  This time though, I was out of carrots - so you won't see any in the pictures.  It was fine without - but I will definitely put them in again.  It's just nice to have that nice, bright color.

Cheeseburger Soup

In a large saucepan or pan, saute the following for about 10 minutes or until tender:
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced celery

Vegetables and burger

3/4 cup diced carrots
1 T. butter

After the vegetables are tender to tender/crisp, add:
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced potatoes
1 - 1.5 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. parsley

Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender.

This is the rue - or the flour/milk mixture

While this cooks, melt 3 T. butter and add 1/4 c. flour into a large saucepan.

When it is smooth, add:
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cup milk
Whisk together well and
add to vegetable/meat mixture.
Add:
2 c. American Cheese, cubed   (I used Velveeta, white the first time and yellow this time)

Simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally and allowing the cheese to melt.  Then add:
1/4 cup sour cream
Mix well, heat through and serve hot!

It's yummy!  Enjoy - but don't wait for a snow day to cook it up!