It is FINISHED

About a year ago my friend Jill talked me into making a 'rag quilt.' She is a super quilter herself and thought I would enjoy in the hobby as she did. I swear she finishes a quilt every weekend. She is that amazing. I began my search for fabric. It took me several times in the fabric store before I finally got up the nerve to actually buy the material. I was so sure I was going to pick the wrong fabrics, or they wouldn't go together. The day I bought the fabric, I asked this older, seasoned woman what she thought of my choices. If she hadn't of said, "looks good dear," I may still be searching.

After purchasing the material it took me a year to finally start cutting. (Again I was paralyzed by the fear of cutting wrong - which I actually did but didn't know it.)

Today, about a year and a half later I stand finished with the quilt. Jill tutored me through the process. Good thing she was on my case to finish, if not for her, the material could still be in the closet. Anyway, here are the pictures. I made 2 medium quilts. I cut it wrong and/or had a lot of fabric, and decided 2 good sized quilts are better than 1 jumbo.

One of the two quilts. Finished product!


Catching a break - mid sewing together.


The assembly process. Now that's a lot of material!

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

As a part of our pre-Christmas tradition, we like to make cookies and decorate them with friends. I took them to work, then Mike and I hit the Greene's, Tomlinson's, and the Smith's houses to complete our rounds. I tried a new frosting recipe this year that allows more FUN decorating. Below are some examples.


Christmas Gingerbread man with spirited plaid.



The never before seen Zebrapotimus.



A stylish star.

A BLIZZARD IN MY OFFICE ?!?

Well, I went to Dad's retirement party in Texas and left my staff to run the show. Upon my return, I was greeted with a flurry of snowflakes of all different sizes, shapes and patterns. A Blizzard. I think this is a bit of revenge on me, although I am innocent. I take NO part in acts of random fun in the office. Don't listen to those who say different. Anyway, I thought it was worthy of showing off. On a side note, we initially thought it would be cool to do the whole office in snowflakes like on the movie "Elf," but I think after this feat, that dream is gone for this year. Maybe we'll just continue to add in the upcoming years to eventually accomplish our dream.


Notice that it is snow the full week. I think this means that I shouldn't come into work. Just a thought.


Myk made the big ones. I had made a request the prior week and I came back to two BIG HUGE ones. We are definitely saving these are for next year.

Gobble, Gobble - Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving day, I participated in the Mid-Valley Turkey Trot. I put the challenge to two of my friends to participate and both "willingly" participated. Supposedly I forced them. yada yada yada. Anyway, Mike and I arrive to get him situated to volunteer but realized that we were too late for him to get his position as a volunteer and so he grabbed some coffee and joined the fray. Soon after Malissa and Jill both arrived. Britney (Jill's daughter) after spouting off that she was going to kick out butts, was no where to be found. Hm...a bit scared I think. We all got our free stuff and headed for the starting line. Mike positioned himself at the corner, but somehow didn't cautch us leaving. However, he did get a couple of shots of us crossing the finish line. This time, Jill got her name announced over the speakers.


We were drenched! I, of course, was blamed for coaxing them into running AND for the rain. I must say though, the temperature was perfect. No freezing lungs. I care.

AIR SHOW

Nellis Airforce Base was putting on an Airshow so Mike & I decided, hey, it's free and its planes. We're in. We headed to the Base to take in the sights. There were some amazing planes. Huge, small, WWII, current, you name it. There were several Air Acrobatics that took place. I tell you, these men and women can fly. I was truly in awe.


This is the C5. Humongous! The front and back open up to load Hummers, tanks, and the tactical big stuff. Crazy!


I was talking to the airman and he said that the gun fires 750-1000 rounds per minute. Per minute. I asked what the usual trigger finger pull was and he said one would typically get off 5 rounds with one short trigger pull. kack,kack,kack,kack


I really wanted to get behind the gun on this chopper. I bullied my way past some 5 & 6 year olds and went straight to the seat.


The military started adding what they title the "Heritage Flight." There basically are different planes from different eras, wars, etc that fly together. It is neat to see the evolution of technology and tactics. This picture doesn't do justice, but I think there is a WWII fighter jet, F15 and some other planes. Mike knows the names, ask him.


This is just cool. A craft you would find on a naval vessel.

Viva Las Vegas

For the past 3 years I've been contemplating getting Mike a "Race Car Experience" package. This year I decided it was as good of year as any and I purchased an Indy Style Racing Experience. I really wanted to get the BMW Road Racing Experience, but my timing was off. Mike and I flew down to Vegas, stayed with Vegas Josh & Teri, and lived it up for a few days. We arrived at Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday morning. Mike was pretty excited. I was too. He got to put on the handy dandy driving jump suit and take in about a 30min. training. The catch phrase we both liked was "you can drive on the freeway going 100+ mph, but can you do it turning left?" Here are the pictures. Mike will have to blog with his words later.

Hitting the top speed of 146.5mph. Speedy!


The pit crew member gave Mike the low down again. Then once his time was up and he was to hit the oval, the 4-runner would give him a push and Mike had to pop the clutch.


I wanted Mike to drive the blue or the maroon car. He got the blue. It looked fast and was really shiny. It reminded me of picking out go-cart cars at Boon Docks. You size up the cars by how fast the previous driver drove and its passing ability.


Mike at full attention during the training. Sweet jump suit.

OINK'S

Hello all. Most of you know Mike is going to school full time at Oregon State University. He is pursuing his GIS certificate and is slated to finish at the end of Spring term. During this time we are living off of one income. I was thinking the other day that Mike and I are no longer DINK's (Dual Income No Kids), but rather OINK's (One Income No Kids). I got quite the chuckle when I thought of it. I tried it on Mike and his response was similar. I think I've come up with a new acronym. OINK's. During this time where families are adjusting to the economy and incomes fluctuate, I think this gives us something to laugh and smile about. Please feel free to use it. It has a ring to it.