Phillies :: World Championship Winners!!

A big day in history for Philadelphia! Wednesday, October 29, 2008, the Phillies won the World Championships against the Devil Rays.



In case you have no idea what all that means (as I did), the Phillies are Philadelphia's Pro. Baseball team. The Devil Rays are from Tampa Bay, FL. The Phillies have not been in the Championships since 1993 when they lost against the Toronto Blue Jays. The last time they won the championship was in 1980.



Since 1983, Philadelphia has had all four teams (baseball, football, basketball or hockey) in the championships, but with no wins. So this is huge for all of Philadelphia to finally win after 25 years.

Congratulations Phillies!!

Oink, Oink! Falling for Pumpkins!

A couple of friends Scott and I met off of the Eagle's message board (where he spends alllllll his free time) invited us to go to a pumpkin patch with them. Which I was VERY excited about since I LOVE PUMPKINS. :)

Christian and April just moved here from Boston. They're really nice... we met up with them at a bar to watch one of the Eagles games last month and found we had a lot in common.

So we met them at the Honeysuckle Hill Pumpkin Farm, which coincidentally, is only a few miles away from the YWAM base... but we didn't know that and didn't have a chance to visit it. :(

But we had a lot of fun at the pumpkin farm... DESPITE the 85 degree heat wave - it was SO HOT!

They had little pig noses for sale... :)



Only... it wasn't a Pumpkin Patch like I though... but a bunch of pumpkins that were already picked... and just placed on the grass.. oh, and they had a price tag on them!! lol. not the natural picking experience I was expecting :( but all the same... it was fun. and hot, very hot.



yes, that's a price tag on there...



Baby white pumpkins are my favorites!



I was playing around with photoshop...



Big white pumpkins are also my favorites...



more photoshop fun:





Baby orange pumpkins are... my second favorites. :)







This is one of the funniest parts of the day: Hillbilly Pig Races!
(notice the orange tree in the background... it's the most orange I've seen so far... :( I thought there was going to be lots of it for fall... but I guess it's not here yet.




This announcer guy had a very thick accent... and was trying to be funny. He kept coming up with names for the pigs... like Swin-ia-twain (Shania Twain), Kevin Bacon, Faith Squeel (Faith Hill)...



These are GIANT pumpkins... they were at least 12 LBS for a small one and up to 35lbs I think...



Check out the 'regular' sized green ones at the bottom



There was this HUGE tire that the kids were swinging on... I don't think I've ever seen one this big (at least one that's not carrying a tractor or 18 wheeler)



Did I mention how HOT it was??

Ruffled Skirt!

I was inspired by Grand Revival Designs' Ruffled Skirts to finally make one of my own. I know... they're for girls... but they were just so cute!! and so fun! And I bought some super cute fabric that worked perfectly!! I love it. :D

I have only completed one item of clothing since I first started sewing in my Home Economics class in high school... and that was a dress for my prom! ... quite a long time ago! (and I had a lot of help from the teacher)

So, I was very excited to actually finish an item of clothing by myself. I followed Tonya's tutorial here, with a few adjustments to make it fit of course... and here it is:

Some new pretty fabrics combined with some I already had -






This is the first top layer... I forgot to take photos before I started



Second layer...






And modeled by yours truly... :D (please ignore the mess in the background)



Twirling is so instinctive in this skirt!! lol.



Close up of all the layers... can you see the details with the piping. I thought it added a little something extra



also another first: zipper! that was a little tough cause of all the layers... I didn't want the layers to lay flat and make the zipper show too much... so I had to get creative... which meant that the zipper wasn't the prettiest. but it works.





Hope you enjoyed... If you want to give it a try, head over to the tutorial - it's VERY easy... just a bunch of rectangles sewn together. She even uses elastic, so there's no zippers to sew, couldn't be easier! I have many more garments that I've started and have yet to finish... but am hoping to get back to them soon. Especially once we finish painting and putting together the Craft Room. :D yayy.

B.

my precious babies - little fur shedding maniacs

So, I'm still really bummed that I don't have a camera, especially now that I'm interning for a photographer and am editing her photos for her... makes me miss shooting my own photos really badly. :(

So, I grabbed Scott's camera (which I lovingly named 'baby camera') and started to play around with the manual settings on it... turns out... it can actually take an ok picture (with some help from photoshop). These are some of my 'practice' shots... not all that exciting, but they're all natural lighting indoors... which was always been a bit of a scary experience for me since I prefer outdoor sufficient light.

but here they are for you to enjoy (and let me know what you think):

Lilo:

He's so cute. The most bratty, sneaky and biggest trouble maker of the bunch. He will go into the kitchen or to the vanity area of our bedroom and use his paw to try and open the drawers... you can imagine the annoying sound of the drawers banging when he doesn't open them on the first try... little punk! lol. I know I should be mad, but it makes me laugh.







Twitch:

He's constantly sleeping... and SO comfortably... this kid is rediculous!! he's always curled up like it's the most comfortable spot in the house... and lately, he's become quite vocal when his precious sleep is disturbed... he just cries and cries like you're torturing him! so funny! at the sight either of us fixing the blankets, he'll come running like it's for him. and he'll leave the other empty couch and the rest of the one you're sitting on and come and lean up against where you're stitting. so silly. :)







Kahlua was a little too skiddish to capture. maybe next time... :D

This one's for you Ragi:





Last month I volunteered at a small animal shelter (cause I was bored and needed to get out of the house) and there were some ah-dor-a-ble little kitties there... (these are cell phone pics, so not that great) it's like a big ball of fur - can't tell which body is who's.





This little guy is a giant schnauzer & yellow lab mix... SO cute. He had 1 brother and 2 sisters... one boy and one guy looked more like a giant schnauzer, and this one and his other sister looked more like the labs... so cute and cuddly! :D





Look at his little ear in the water dish! lol.



I can't wait to get a puppy!!!

fishies are hibernating...

Ok, so the fishies are currently out of order... so disregard that post for now... :D

Fun Fishies!

Check out the cool fun fish on the side... if you click on the blue box, you can 'feed' the fish with little dots, then when the food is all out, you can do some more, or just move your mouse around and they follow! how fun are they!! HOURS of entertainment... I'm telling you... I'm so easily entertained..

I want some glitter nailpolish... That's even more hours of entertainment... so pretty, so shiny, so glittery... SPARKLES!!! lol.

ahh, I could seriously be loosing my sanity, but hey... it's a little overrated anyway.

he he he he he.... ha ha ha...

Oh, have you noticed..... FALL IS PRACTICALLY HERE!!!!! I'm SO SO excited! Bring on the color! and ORANGE!! yayyyy

he he he...
B.

How FUN!

I have a reason for not blogging recently... I really do... honest! There's just so many awesome blogs out there that every time I get on my computer I get so distracted... and they're so much fun and they have pretty pictures!! :D Check them out on the sidebar...

I also found out about SWAPS! Swaps are when crafty bloggers, like me, sign up on other crafty blogger's blogs and swap projects by mail...

Like this one: Yarni Gras!

I came across Val's blog and learned about her "Hot Drinks for Hot Mammas Apron Swap". A bunch of crafters and sewers signed up and she assigned each of us a partner. We get our partner's name and her interestes/dislikes, and we make an apron for them. The theme for this swap is Hot drinks. So we design the aprons around the theme... either with printed fabrics, or with apliques or other fun stuff...

I'm very excited to try this out... it's my first swap, and my first apron to make. I've been searching the web for examples and there are some really fun ones out there... it's inspiring to see how creative people get and the samples range from vintage to traditional to modern... very cool. I've already received my partner's info and am excited to start on hers. I'll post my progress on her apron as I go.

I also singed up for 2 other swaps... It's really helping me get my creative juices flowing and helping me use up all the fabrics I have laying around (so I can go buy some more!! he he he...)

The next swap I signed up for is: Scrap Challenge:: *Spare a Square by Jennifer Casa of JCasa: handmade (she's very creative... I enjoy her blog)


With this challenge, each of us send her a 12" x 12" scrap that we LOVE and she cuts them all up into smaller scraps, and then sends us back 10 smaller scraps each. The challenge is to make something interesting with our scraps and post pictures. Not extreamly challenging... but I LOVE receiving packages and letters in the mail... so I took the opportunity to have something mailed to me as a surprise! lol. I haven't received my scraps back yet, so I'm still waiting on that one.

And the last swap is this one: Blogging by Mail by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness

In this one, it's a little less to do with crafting and more to do with cooking. (which I enjoy as well, and am always trying out new recipes so I figured I'd give this one a try too). This swap is a global care package swap for bloggers. She explains it better than I would, so here's what she wrote:

"You may have noticed that the price of everything is going up, right? Yeah, me too. But I still love sending off packages, and getting one in return! Just as exciting. So my solution to the impending recession is this: 10 Items or Less. Ten (or fewer) of your favorite things, ten must-haves, ten items that interest or excite you at the moment....food, stationary, books, whatever.

Gather up your favorite things, but limit yourself to no more than TEN. The goal is to cut down on shipping costs, which are fairly outrageous right now."

So I'm also excited for that one... Haven't received my partner for that one either, but have already started making a list of some of my favorite things...

This is a lot of fun. Especially since I have some time on my hands and I am trying to put off doing other stuff I'm not excited about. he he he... not good of me, I know, but ... oh well. ;)

Love and miss you all... especially my family! I miss you!
B

back home sweet home

Hey all,

I'm still alive, just been busy and ... lazy. :D I know I haven't updated in a while, but I promise to make up for it.

Hubby and I just got home from a week long visit with his mom and brothers and sister in laws and aunt and cousin at his mom's house in North Carolina. It was a really good to see everyone and catch up. We got to go to the pool and the beach and do some shopping... and eat a lot! It was great going to the beach because I thought I hated the beach... but I realized that I just hate the California beaches I've been to so far. The Atlantic Ocean is so much nicer... the beach was cleaner and the water was perfect that day...not too cold and not too warm. Totally reminded me of the beaches back home. :D (I still don't like the sand and don't like spending too much time at the beach, but I'd be willing to go to the beach more often on the east coast than the west.

We came home to our three little babies all confused and not sure where we've been.
They were so jumpy with every little noise... probably from a week long of silence. But over all, they were great. Now they're all over us wanting to be pet and cuddled. so cute!

Well, that's all I have for now. I will have to download some photos off the camera and then update some more... we've been working on the house a bit but more to come.

B. :D

Much Better!

I just got back from my visit with the Chiropractor and I feel much better. He was able to adjust my back a lot! I can't remember the last time my body popped that much!!! lol. but it feels sooo much better and I can move around more freely and in less pain.

Thank you for your prayers. Last weekend was not as painful as I thought it would be without being adjusted on Friday. I survived it. :)

Now if I could just figure out how to afford 3 visits a week at $50/visit... :( Don't think that'll happen for a while.

Not feeling too well

So, I guess when I got hurt on the 4th of July, it was a little more than I thought.

I thought I was getting a little better, but the last couple of days I've been hurting a little more and have a little tingling/numbness in my arms, and some swelling in my wrists... :(

It was getting a little too uncomfortable, so I found a chiropractor, made an apt. and went in this morning. Unfortunately, all he was able to do today was take the routine xrays, and wait for them to come back.

I have a follow up apt. on Monday. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

I appreciate your prayers.
Thanks.

Pretty flowers

My hubby's so sweet!!! ;) He got me flowers!!

No occasion, I didn't ask for them AND they're my favorite color - Orange. :D

Thank you baby. :D I love you!





Notice the wall - This would be our living room. It's a faux finish - like 75% of the paint jobs in the house (which is why they're taking so long). It's a dark green with a lighter green color wash. ... funny enough, the paint we bought was neither of those colors... we decided against the original color and with the help of some leftover black paint we found in the garage, we darkened the base color, then added some light beige to lighten the top color.

It's still not quite the right shade, so we're going to try a second, lighter coat on top and see how it turns out.

I'll keep you updated.

If you're wondering, mom, dad and Shadwa are doing fine in Egypt. They're very hot, mom's very busy, and I miss them a lot, otherwise, doing well.