Can't be without my friends. You all are a big part of my success.

Brother something, too lazy to see what model. But computerized with 50 different stetches.

I was looking at different long arm machines today.

Carole, your FB picture has me soooooo jealous. I hate being jealous.

Hi all,

Spent the afternoon over in Boone visiting with high school friends who are identical twins. They inherited their parents home there, and will be retiring to Boone in the future.

Sushi is acting a bit more energetic these days...she remembers where to find the food and water dishes down the hall. She tires quickly, and we do not allow her to climb any stairs. Just to see her wag her tail makes us happy...

Janet, will definitely share pictures of the flower boxes after they are stained and planted with flowers. We are also looking for oak barrel halves...but will not plant them until after we get the deck refinished. Before fall, but we have a short growing season here.

Terri, what is free style quilting?

Sorry for choppy posts...assertive iPad this evening.

Don't be jealous Janet...come visit!

We miss family and friends...but we have wanted to be here for so many years...this is a dream long in the making to be realized. Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. This reality came into focus for us in 2011...

Diane...I hope you enjoyed the time with your family...glad that you had an opportunity to take a time out from your stressful days!

Michelle...your inner clock needs to be reset. J/k...I wish I could be a morning person. Not going to happen though.

Nicole, you have done so well with your transition to banded life...long may it continue!

Dawn...what does the weekend hold? Good to read that you finally have space to breathe!

Janet...good to read you have discovered a remedy to help you sleep. It was scary for me...throwing up and choking every night. I am so thankful that is hopefully history for me now.

Be back tomorrow...hope everyone sleeps well!

Free motion quilting is like the fair game where you hold the pen still and move the paper around under it, only in this case, the needle of the machine is the pen and you move the fabric around under it. I will bring a sample on Wednesday.

Well I didn't drink my hot chocolate before bed and here I lay wide awake.

I had a really late dinner and just stayed up long enough to make it a couple hours before going to bed.

Janet...I guess the schedule of the evening becomes more important. We had a "off day" as far as following routines yesterday.

It was not a good night for me as a result. I'm in uncharted territory now, and must make my former needs a requirement.

I hope you eventually got some restorative sleep.

I'm going to have to take it easy today, and follow a schedule and stay with liquids and 1 meal of benign ingredients.

Terri, thank you for letting me see a sample of your work. I am a visual learner, so seeing an example will help more than any amount of words.

I hope everyone will enjoy a good and stress free day...

Hello! I wish I could sleep past 6 am! Oh well. I do take naps though. Yesterday I went to see my friend who is bedridden. she had an operation on a hernia. She's the only one that I told that I had lap band. She let me raid her closet for clothes and oh my goodness I got the cutest stuff. She's not very skinny anymore so she can't fit into all these beautiful clothes. She shops at Ann Taylor, loft and J.Crew. So I got these beautiful dresses and tops and summer suit oh my God I'm so happy.

It's a great way to have a wardrobe while I'm losing weight because once I'm done with them I'll give them back to her.

Carol, what kind of stain do you use? My mom's husband just made me a beautiful flower box that I need to stain before I put the flowers in. And what to you line it with so the wood doesn't get ruined? ( How many questions from a little city girl)

Terri, I wish I knew how to quilt! I have always loved them was never taught to sew. And now I just don't have the time.

Janet, I love being busy as long as its a good busy. I think I would sleep for a week if i had nothing to do and be super lazy, never clean my house. So having a busy life keeps my adrenaline up enough where i actually have energy to clean the house too if that makes any sense.

What is everyone else doing today. I'm doing homework and cleaning my house today, so pretty mellow. If I get it all done today then I can do one of my finals tomorrow, one on Tuesday one on Wednesday then I'll be off of school until the 6th of July!

Has anyone tried the herbalife protein shakes? I'm going to order one canister along with their protein boost to make the shakes 30g of protein with 170 cal. Seems a bit high in calories but they are intended as meal replacements soooooo... I got ones kind of shake from Walmart and they just don't do the trick. I added a shake to my diet because I don't feel like eating in the morning but I need to because of the workouts. I'm not too tight in the morning to eat I just feel l just couldn't even look at anything.

Good afternoon, my friends.

Sounds like a good day for all so far.

It's overcast here today and expected to be up to 90. Not sure how much I will be doing outside. If Audrey ever gets out of bed, she and I may do something since I don't see her much these days. I have been in contact w/ Ericka quite a bit though it has slowed the last few days. At school she has WiFi so she will message me sometimes on my phone through Google Hangouts and send pictures, etc. She is having a great time. Lol, on Father's Day she told me they made Cuy and she didn't eat it and had chicken instead even though they were trying to convince her. What is Cuy, GUINEA PIG. UCK! It's very common in South America though. We used to have those as pets she certainly doesn't want to try it. (That's my girl). She is having a great time though. They were trying to plan a weekend to go to the Galapagos Islands but their coordinator said you need more than a weekend and it's very expensive. There is some other island though that is a "mini Galapagos" so she is hoping they can go there or get to the beach. It is soooo beautiful where she is. Brad was so sweet before she left and gave her $500 towards her trip for spending $. He knows the trip alone was a lot for us to finagle and he wanted her not to worry about $ while she is there since it is a once in a lifetime opportunity so she would have $ to do the things she may not have by being on a tight budget. July 3rd I am driving out to see him w/ Audrey and with his son, Owen. It should be fun, plus I miss him! I attached a picture of Ericka (far left) with some of her friends in a National Park in Cuenca, Ecuador the city she is living in now with her host family.

Michelle, gosh, I wish I could get up at 6!!! I need half your energy. I am happy to hear you will have a break coming soon w/ school. I hope you have a nice weekend.

Carole, so happy Sushi is happy. I, too, LOVE the view of where you are. I love mountain views. Some years back Brad and I and our kids did a road trip to the Smokies and stayed in a house in the cabin. It was the most beautiful scenery!!

Di, I love the pic on FB of you and your daughter and granddaughter... talk about family resemblance. How are you doing?

Nicole, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy your weekend. How are you liking your fitbit?

Terri and Dee, what are your plans this weekend?

Janet, I don't know how you do it w/ as little as you sleep and as active as you are. No wonder your ticker is dropping like mad!

Off to get some housework done! Have a great one!

You are a quilting fool! I did not work on mine today! Keep sewing!

You are a quilting fool! I did not work on mine today! Keep sewing!

You are a quilting fool! I did not work on mine today! Keep sewing!

No, just a fool.lol

Love you all!

Finished my quilt today, on to another one!

Hello! I wish I could sleep past 6 am! Oh well. I do take naps though. Yesterday I went to see my friend who is bedridden. she had an operation on a hernia. She's the only one that I told that I had lap band. She let me raid her closet for clothes and oh my goodness I got the cutest stuff. She's not very skinny anymore so she can't fit into all these beautiful clothes. She shops at Ann Taylor, loft and J.Crew. So I got these beautiful dresses and tops and summer suit oh my God I'm so happy.

It's a great way to have a wardrobe while I'm losing weight because once I'm done with them I'll give them back to her.

Carol, what kind of stain do you use? My mom's husband just made me a beautiful flower box that I need to stain before I put the flowers in. And what to you line it with so the wood doesn't get ruined? ( How many questions from a little city girl)

Terri, I wish I knew how to quilt! I have always loved them was never taught to sew. And now I just don't have the time.

Janet, I love being busy as long as its a good busy. I think I would sleep for a week if i had nothing to do and be super lazy, never clean my house. So having a busy life keeps my adrenaline up enough where i actually have energy to clean the house too if that makes any sense.

What is everyone else doing today. I'm doing homework and cleaning my house today, so pretty mellow. If I get it all done today then I can do one of my finals tomorrow, one on Tuesday one on Wednesday then I'll be off of school until the 6th of July!

Has anyone tried the herbalife protein shakes? I'm going to order one canister along with their protein boost to make the shakes 30g of protein with 170 cal. Seems a bit high in calories but they are intended as meal replacements soooooo... I got ones kind of shake from Walmart and they just don't do the trick. I added a shake to my diet because I don't feel like eating in the morning but I need to because of the workouts. I'm not too tight in the morning to eat I just feel l just couldn't even look at anything.

Michelle,

We used a semi-transparent Olympic stain to preserve the wood. It shows the wood grain, but gives it extra color to contrast with the railings. The liners are available at just about any plant nursery. Some conform to the shape of the planter like an above ground swimming pool, others are rigid and are like a plant box inside the planter.

The growing season is so short, I don't know if we will find the rigid ones, which is my preference to keep soil off the deck.

I hope you ace your finals!

Sounds like everyone had a nice Saturday.

Dawnn, thank you for sharing Erika's picture. The girls look so young. Don't tell Erika, but she looks like a little girl.She'll appreciate that when she gets older.

Brad is truly a dear. Glad you get to spend some time with him soon.

Michelle, I know you will ace those exams, as hard as you study.

How marvelous to shop in someone's closet. It really doesn't make sense to spend money on clothes you'll only wear one season.

So happy for you!

Carole, you are absolutely right about staying on schedule. Eating so late just doesn't cut it. Sorry you got off kilter. Did you and Jack have a date night? I was thinking, now that he's retired, everyday is a date.lol

Where are you, Terri & Di meeting on Wednesday? Can't wait for pictures.

Terri, by tomorrow I will have my binding on and moving on to another baby quilt. I got the queen size kit I ordered. I really can't wait to start it. The instructions are amazingly easy. Even a blueprint of how to cut it.

Thinking strongly of selling my machine and buying a new one. I really like my machine for clothes making and piecing, but neck not long enough. What model would you suggest?

Ange and I ran around this morning for a few things we needed. Then we hung out around her pool. Water was chilly, getting lots of rain. But really enjoyed it.

Came home and watched two movies at the same time, with my husband.

Yep, every commercial he'd switch between the movies.

At 6:30 I layed down on the sofa, just for a minute and was out in a flash. I really didn't want to fall asleep, but it was a nice short nap.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!