Happy Valentine's Day!

I found the perfect gift!

Adventures in 2012!

Well, it's here and one of my resolutions is to keep up with my blog better. Now, that may be difficult because one of the BIG changes for 2012 is that I will now be home schooling my 9 year old daughter! My hope is to get a little blog post in here and there while she is working on school work.

This is going to be a big change for me. I've gotten pretty used to have my days free to do as I want. Now I'll have a kiddo to worry about and take everywhere with me. I'm actually really looking forward to it! I think we are going to have so much fun! The first thing I did was to print out a list of "holidays" for every day this month and I hope to do something fun to correspond to each day. So, today is Soup Day!! Guess what we'll be having for dinner? LOL!! Other fun days this month include Jan8 - Elvis' Birthday, Jan12 - Little Red Riding Hood Day, Jan16 - Nothing Day, and Jan21 - Hat Dy.

As for my crochet designing, well, it looks like 2012 is going to be a good year for publication. My first two designs just came out in the new Crochet World Magazine and I have many, many more to come! I am finishing up another design this week and will be starting yet another one due at the end of the month! I'm really excited about these. This year I hope to submit (and have accepted) a lot more designs and I hope to self-publish at least 3 new patterns to sell online.

Other than that, I am currently working on my knitting skills. Who knows....maybe some knit designs will be showing up soon from Jaybird Designs?? On my needles right now is the Waffle Stitch Scarf from Bernat. Since I only had one skein of Mosaic, I am making the scarf skinnier and in the beautiful shade of Spectrum.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful 2012 and I am looking forward to staying in touch with you more! Have a great day!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable long weekend!! I plan on it!!

And check out the sweet Red, White, & Blue items featured in my etsy shop!

Whew!! What a Holiday!

I don't know about you, but this past week has wiped me out!! I can't wait to get back to "normal"....or whatever normalcy I can find during the month of December!!

Last week was my wonderful hubby's birthday and we surprised him with a house full of balloons and streamers when he arrived home from a business trip! He loved it...even if his cake fell and looked like a volcano erupted! But boy was it YUMMY!!

Then Thursday was Thanksgiving and we have a wonderful day full of family time. I cooked a nice meal and, for once, did not make enough food to feed an army! We are actually finished with all the leftovers now!

Over the weekend I actually put up Christmas lights on my house! First time in 10 years! My daughter loves it and I get a huge smile on my face every time I look at them shining through my window! It's going to be a great holiday! I even finished my yarn ball wreath and have it hanging on the front door.

So, December will be bringing Christmas parties, birthday parties, and lots of family time! But first I need to finish up my crochet gift list and make some new items for my tree. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too!!

Happy Thanksgiving Sale!

I hope all of my readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

And when you are ready to start shopping, stop by my etsy shop!! Use code TURKEYTIME25 to receive 25% off your purchase!! This includes all of my original crochet patterns...just in case you need something to do this weekend!! And when you are ready to start your gift shopping, the code is also good on all of my ready-to-ship items! These special pieces make GREAT gifts!

Coupon code is good until Midnight on Monday! Happy Thanksgiving and happy shopping!!

Happy Independence Day Weekend!

Please have a happy and safe holiday weekend!!!

I'll be freezing veggies from my garden, swatching up some new designs, and spending quality time with my family! :-)

December = Busy

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. December is my really busy month. I feel like I am running around like a nut!! I even managed to forget my mother-in-law's birthday!!! Uh oh!!!

We got our tree up this weekend. Ron and Heather got to make a snowman too. I have only done the tiniest bit of Christmas shopping and now we are on the last week of school and Heather came home early today with a head cold!

I have lots of gloves to finish knitting for custom orders that I hope to finish up this week...that is if the yarn has arrived yet! Plus I had another design accepted for publication!!

On that note...boy do I have a surprise for you!!! I can't wait to let the cat out of the bag!! I am so stinking excited!!!

This week I have three Christmas parties to attend and Heather's 7th Birthday! I can't believe my baby will be 7! So please forgive me for not posting much!!

My Favorite Holiday Recipe

OK, I had to type this up anyways, so I thought I'd share it with all of you! This is my FAVORITE holiday recipe!! Just the smell of it gives me so many wonderful memories!! Yes, it is an alcoholic drink, LOL!! Did I ever tell you that my dad always said that our last name, Chalupiak, means "Happy Drunk" in Ukrainian??? LOL!!! But don't worry; this was my mom's drink....so it is not very strong. And I'll warn you, it makes A LOT!!! Be prepared to have a party or give some away! LOL!!

Bourbon Slush

~2 Cups HOT tea made with 5 tea bags
~1 - 12oz can of frozen orange juice
~1 - 12oz can of frozen lemonade
~7 Cups water
~1/4 Cup sugar
~2 1/4 Cups Bourbon Whiskey (I just use the whole bottle! LOL!!)
~Numerous Tupperware type freezable containers with lids
~Ginger Ale, 7up, sprite, or any citrus type soda (I prefer Ginger Ale)

Mix first 6 ingredients until all frozen. Pour into containers and freeze. When ready to drink, scrape some of the frozen drink with a spoon or ice cream scoop and put into a cup filling at least half way, or more/less to taste. Pour soda over it to fill cup and drink with a straw!

Enjoy!

Weight Loss Update

OK, it's Friday again!! The day I jump on the scale and take my measurements!!

The results....well, I only lost half a pound. A little sad....I was hoping for more. But I guess those cookies I had yesterday didn't help, LOL!! But, on a positive note, I did loose one whole inch on my hips and half an inch in my thighs!!!! So that makes a total of one inch in my waist, one inch in my hips, 1.5 inches in my thighs and one inch in my calfs!! All since August 9th! I guess all that walking may not be burning a ton of calories....but they are doing great things for my bottom half!

This week I started doing a short exercise video in the mornings. It was just a basic and short 20 minute thing that worked on some abs and a little weight training in my arms. Next week I hope to move up to one of the longer routines on the tape. But I still need to figure out what I can do to keep up with my walks!

OK, so it is Labor Day Weekend! What do you have planned?? We will be heading out to Ouray again....so you won't here from me until Tuesday! Stay safe and have a great holiday weekend!

Yummy!

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

Happy Independance Day!!

Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July!!

I cleaned out my sewing room this past weekend and now I have tons of fabrics listed starting at $1.99 a yard! You can see all my listings here!