Yesterday I spent a few hours and finally got Molly's dog coat made. The pattern was real easy to understand and it seemed to go pretty well.

Here is what the inside looks like~

This is the outside~

And here she is modeling it for you~

I also forgot the other day to put up the pictures of the table with the placemats that Veronica sent me. They look so nice on the table~

Today I went and met with my very good friend. We had lunch and just talked and talked, it was so nice. I wish she was staying here longer so we could have more time to just catch up. She brought pictures of her grandchildren and she just knows how much I love to see pictures. I had my camera with me but then forgot to get a picture of us two together...oh well maybe next year.

Tonight Roger, Molly and I went to look at Christmas tree lights, there are a couple of streets in the town just south of us that always decorate a lot and it was just gorgeous...It was nice just spending time with my beloved...I still have a few more gifts to get but don't know yet what I want to get for sure, so probably won't actually shop until sometime this coming week.

Have a very blessed Sunday

Blessings,Joann

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It's been a pretty horrible day here. Woke up with an extreme headache, wanted to go back to sleep but just gave myself a good talking too and stayed up. I got laundry started at 8AM and was able to do 6 loads today. I know that sounds like a lot for just two people, but I did things I don't do everyday. I washed the cloth hanging bags on my laundry sorter, I washed the throws from the living room(which smell somewhat dog like, I wonder why??) I also did every single piece of laundry that I could find. Now we should be set until at least Monday or Tuesday.

Roger had to drive to work today even though the fog was BAD! He called when he got there so at least I know he got there safely.

All I managed to do today was the laundry, but at least all of it was washed dried and folded/hung up and put away. I started a new way of doing laundry a while back and so far it is working good. I used to wash laundry forget about it and then at the end of the day remember that I never put it in the dryer. So I started using a timer so I would remember that I had laundry going, it works great.  I also brought laundry from the dryer into the house only to pile it on the couch, sometimes it would sit there for days...Now I take all of our unused hangers in the closet and hang them on my laundry sorter center, when the dryer is finished I take the laundry out and fold what needs to be folded right there and put things on the hangers that need to be hung up. When I come back in the house (my washer and dryer are in our garage) I go directly to our room and hang up and put away all the laundry. This has been such a blessing. No more laundry on the couch...

I took a few pictures of the tree today as I finally got the presents under there.

 We also have a little adventurous cat who just loves to chew on the tree (it's artificial).Here he is looking for just the right spot

 Here he is just a munching away, oblivious of me standing there watching him do this

He also likes to go hide among the presents and take the bows off.I have tried to keep him out of there but nothing seemed to work. Finally I was at the dollar store the other day and they had these pretty jingle bell ornaments, I picked up a couple of boxes of them and put them on the lower tree branches. Now when Oreo goes wandering under the tree the bells kind of startel him and he leaves.

I have just a few more presents to purchase and I will be done. I am still working on my crafts but they are going slow....what's new..that's how I always do crafts, very slowly.

My very good friend, the one who is visiting from Missouri called this morning and wants to get together Saturday for lunch and maybe go to the mall....I am very excited..I haven't seen her in a little over a year. She is staying at her daughter's house a few minutes away. I find her a blessing in my life, I have known her for over 15 years and she is a true friend...

Blessings to you all...Joann

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I went to my weigh in at W.W. this morning and even though the weight lost this week was not huge (only 1.8 pds.) it did put me over the 10 pounds lost, my total weight loss after 5 weeks is 11.6 pounds. I am very happy with this program, I can basically eat what I want but have to track the points, so far it is working for me..

Today I plan on working on some pj's for the grandkids, I got the fabric cut out the other day and now just need to sit down and sew them up. I also cut out some fabric for a coat for our dog Molly. I took her and dropped her off at the groomers on the way to W.W. today and she was just shivering in the car..I would like to get that sewn up this week too.

I wrapped all of the gifts I have so far and put them under the tree last night. I have a few gifts that I ordered online so they aren't here yet..

We are still without a stove, don't have a clue as to when it will show up. Right now I don't think it will even be before Christmas!! We are making due with what we have and so far so good.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday..

Blessings,Joann

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I went in to my weigh in at Weight watchers today thinking I had probably gained weight because of Thanksgiving. Was I suprised when the scale said that I had lost 3.2 pounds, that brings my total to 9.8 pounds and this was my 4th weigh in. It seems to be coming off but it is very hard for me to stick to. Roger is a big help, he is very supportive and encouraging.

I have to get some things done around the house and then will be back later to put a new post up about some of my favorite ornaments on our tree complete with pictures.

Enjoy your day

Blessings,Joann

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I know that Monday is pretty much over but I am just getting over here to my blog to put up a quick post.

I have been not feeling well since about Tuesday of last week. This week has been real hard on me as it was also my Dad's birthday and since he has passed away his birthday is always hard to get through for me and then of course I wasn't feeling good on top of that.

Roger sent me shopping today, wow does he know me or what! I went to Joann's and bought some fabric so I can get started on my Christmas projects, I have many planned and will start working on them as soon as I can. I seem to always put things off till the last minute and then it's always a rush to get things done in time. This year we will be here for Christmas (last year we spent it in Oregon) so I at least have until Christmas eve to finish everything. I am trying some new things so don't know how they will work out.

I have done nothing all day, well except for the shopping and washing the fabric. I hope to be back to my regular blogging by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Oh I also have some news, very exciting for me.....We are getting a new stove, it is to be delivered on Wednesday. Yahoo!!!  Since it is a slide in type you can't just pull it out and put a new one in, there may be some cracked tile when we do it so we need to make sure that we have plenty of time so in case we need to redo some of the tile around it.

Here is a link to what it looks like, it has a convection oven and a warming drawer. I can't wait to get it!!

http://www.frigidaire.com/products/cooking/ranges/slide-in_electric/prod_PLES399EC.asp

Blessings,Joann

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Wow today was just packed with things to do, some fun, some not so fun.

I got my refrigerator cleaned out, Did an inventory of both the refrigerator and freezers made a menu, made a grocery list and went grocery shopping. I also got 7 loads of laundry done. That's not bad for not actually functioning until almost noon. I went to bed late last night (almost 2am) and for some reason I kept waking up every hour I woke up at 3, then 4 then 5 this lasted until 7 when I got up and let the dog out and fed her. My head was pounding very bad so I took some medication and went back to sleep and slept until after 10am, then kind of lazied around until noon . I kept the laundry going (the last load is in the dryer right now, almost midnight) and went to Joann's before I went to do the grocery shopping. I bought some books with embroidery things in them.

This is one of the books~

This is the other one~

I also bought 2 flat quarters in purple to make a camera case out of

Aren't these colors so pretty??

After grocery shopping I stopped and picked up a pizza and then came home put all the frozen things away and ate!! I was so hungry and I was exhausted. When it was 6:30pm it felt to me like it was midnight and I was so ready to go to bed but I wanted to make sure to get all this laundry done. I had let it pile up over the weekend so it was my own fault there was so much.

Here is this weeks Menu~

Monday~ Pizza

Tuesday~ Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and homemade rolls

Wednesday~ Spaghetti, salad, veggie, garlic bread

Thursday~ Tacos, Refried beans, rice

Friday~ Breakfast for dinner~ Eggs, sausages, biscuit w/gravy

Saturday~Tomato soup, grilled ham/cheese on Rye, chips

Sunday~ Meatloaf, butter/herb potatoes, green beans

Saturdays and Sundays meals may be different as we are going to my Mom's on Saturday for a late lunch (to celebrate her birthday)  so we may not be too hungry. Sunday we are going to a Pizza buffet (John's incredible pizza) for my birthday so the same thing may happen of being not too hungry.

Tommorow is my heavy cleaning day, lots to do but thankfully NO LAUNDRY, well I may do up the cleaning cloths but that's it.

It's almost midnight and I am just so ready to hit the bed, going in now to check the dryer, praying it will be done.

Blessings,Joann

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Yeah!! It's Thursday, I like Thursday's because this is the last day of the week of Roger commuting to work, now I will have him home with me until Tuesday morning

I am doing some experimenting with my embroidery sewing machine this week. There are a few things that I would like to use it for but actually have never even tried that part of the machine yet. I have this thing were I want to do something or make something but keep putting it off because I am So sure it will not turn out. Roger says I just don't have faith in my abilities. If I do try and make something it almost always turns out okay, but it's just the starting part I struggle with.  I also think of the cost of things, if I do something and it doesn't turn out then I have wasted the money I used buying the fabric and things.

I have a friend that does all kinds of crafty things and she really encourages me with the things that she does. She does lots of things like embroidery (by hand, not machine) and she makes wonderful things. I am trying to take what she does and try my hand at it and so far have been enjoying it. I am working right now on some embroidered things to put on some bags (tote/purse sized). She does such beautiful work and I am hoping that mine turns out even half as good as hers.

Yesterday Roger and I went to Lowe's to pick up some gutter for our back patio area. We had gutters put on the house many  years ago but at the time we weren't sure what we were doing with the roof that is over the patio. Tuesday someone came out and did some work on it for us and now we just have to put up the gutter. It will be so nice to not have a big lake of water right at the edge of the patio where the water used to come down.

Have a blessed Thursday

Blessings,Joann

"Give her of the Fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

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I just finished the book Fireproof! Oh was it good, I don't want to say much about it as I know it is at the theatre's in movie form right now. But it is definately worth reading. I  wanted to read it before I seen the movie and it was so worth it, now I know what to expect in the movie. If anyone gets a chance to see it it will be worth it.

Well we went to Home Depot today and bought a ladder, we needed an extension ladder so we got a 16' one. That was the extent of exciting things we did today...aren't we just crazy crazy people

When we got home I made some tomato soup and grilled chese sandwiches for dinner Yummy!!

Tomorrow I have a busy day, lots to do. I would like to keep working on my Fall cleaning but had taken a short break of it for a while.

Roger ordered my birthday present (My birthday isn't until November)last night online, of course I gave him the name of what I wanted told him they had it at Amazon and what color I wanted  so it should be a great gift!! I will take a picture of it when it arrives..

Gotta go it's after midnight and I am getting tired..

Hope and pray that everyone has  a great start to your wonderful blessing filled week

Blessings,Joann

"Give her of the Fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

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Today was our errand running around day. Went to lots of places and are now home and tired. Why does running around make you so tired?? We went to the library, I had a few books on hold, one of them is Fireproof I want to read the book before seeing the movie. I plan on starting that one tonight. The other books I picked up where craft books, quilting and embroidery. I would like to learn how to quilt. I am not interested in making large quilts but rather small little things to quilt, purses, placemats, runners, small wall hangings...I have a lot to learn and am trying to read everything I can on the subject. I was thinking of taking a class but I do so much better on my own if I can find things that explain what to do...so any of you that quilt tell me all of your secrets and what are some tips I need to know.

Katies birthday party is tomorrow. Thursday Jennifer and I went shopping for things for the party, you know the plates, napkins, cups, decorations etc... I also ordered a balloon bouquet for Katie and of course I had to get a spiderman balloon for Dylan (don't want him to feel left out). Jennifer went and ordered the cake today and we are going to go pick things up in the morning. The craft thing I was working on will NOT be ready for her birthday, but that's okay now I have a jump start on Christmas. Roger and I bought her a Disney Princess canopy toddler bed and we put it together this morning, boy that took some time, I still have to assemble the canopy part (it has like 26 screws!!!) We figure we will finish assembling it over at their house as it won't fit in the van with the canopy on. It is so cute.

We dropped off a ton of stuff at Goodwill today, One big box (really big) and 2 bags of clothing. I was hoping to have more but that was all I had gone through. I am trying to go through things in my craft room. It's still only half way done but that is fine with me basically I still need to finish the painting (well Roger does that) and then he is taking the table top out, sanding nice and smooth and then putting some sort of edge on it and then putting it back in. I will have so much room for my cutting area, a place where my cutting mat will actually be able to lay flat and just stay there and not have to be put away. I also have a large area for my sewing machine to sit and I plan on putting up some peg board on the wall behind the machine area so I can get hooks and keep little things hanging from them. I can't wait till it is done, but it all takes time. So my major job right now is just to go through the boxes on the floor that have been sitting here for quite a while and try to weed out all that I don't need. I can't believe all the fabric I have, some real cute stuff too.. I have 11 boxes to go through though at least 2 maybe 3 are just fabric, that needs to be folded and then stacked on my shelving..

Well I guess I have rambled on long enough, it's after 5pm and I am almost ready for bed

Luckily when we got done with our errands we went through the drive thru at Jack in the Box so dinner is done...

Have a great Friday night and I will be back tomorrow with hopefully some great pictures from the birthday party.

Blessings,Joann

"Give her of the Fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

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I will be out of the house most of the day today. My mom has a dr. appt. at 2pm but I have to go pick her up (half hour away) then bring her back to my town for the appt. and then take her home again and the come home myself. This will take a good part of my day. I have put dinner in the crockpot so when I do finally get home all I have to do is make some potatoes and throw some veggie in the microwave.

Roger is working from home today and I am sad that I won't be here with him. I enjoy it when he is home. I know lots of women who complain when there Husbands are working from home and actually I used to be one. Now that he has his own office and I have my craft/office room we don't seem to get into each others way as much.

I am still working on a craft for my granddaughter's birthday but I am not saying what it is just in case I don't finish it in time. I figure if it doesn't get done I can always use it for a Christmas gift.

I just ordered the book The Love Dare from our local Christian bookstore, I have heard all kinds of good things about it. I want to go see the movie Fireproof but it isn't playing at the Theatre we like to go to, it's only at the one downtown and it's just so hard to find parking and I don't really like to be downtown..I guess I will have to wait for it to come out on DVD.

Hope everyone out there has a very wonderful Wednesday....

Blessings,Joann

"Give her of the Fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31 

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Roger and I took a few days and went up to Lake Tahoe.

Here is a picture on Highway 50 going East into Tahoe~

This is the Motel we stayed at~

We had reservations to go out on the Sunset dinner/dance cruise aboard the Ms. Dixie II. They have a live band and they have a wonderful dinner. We both had the filet mignon, gorganzolla mashed potatoes, fresh seasoned veggies and chocolate mousse for desert. Very good food.

Here are some pictures from the boat~

Here are some seats you can sit on ouside of the cabin~

Here are some sunset pictures~

Another sunset picture~

Me aboard the Dixie~

This is a picture of the picture they take when you get on the boat~

This is what our first room looked like, I picked out this room because it was so pretty and purple is my favorite color~

This is the heart shaped spa (it's kind of hard to see, because everything was black??)

What we didn't realize was the bed was not very comfortable, so the next morning we asked if they had any other rooms with a firmer mattress. They were very accomodating and he gave us keys to about 6 rooms so we could go try out the beds.

This is what our second room looked like~

This is the fireplace~

This is the in ground spa~ (very relaxing)

Here are some pictures of some t-shirts we bought at the Harley shop

Mine (the front)

Mine (the back)

Roger's (the front)

Roger's (the back)

When we got up on the morning to leave we walked outside and snow was starting to fall !!!

Here is a bush by our car with little snowflakes on it~

Here is Roger with the snow falling around him~

Here are some pictures of the Lake~

This is the temperature gauge in our van~ 30' is very cold to me!

It was just beautiful, and so nice and cool. Perfect weather while we were there. We ate out at Applebee's (one of our favorite places to eat in Tahoe) for dinner one of the nights and we both got the steak and shrimp (best steak and shrimp in Tahoe)

Today I just took it easy and tomorrow I need to do some cleaning around here and I also have lots of laundry to do..Luckily the house was in pretty good shape before we left, shouldn't take too long to tidy things up.

I made a big pot of Sausage and Lentil soup and some chive biscuits for dinner tonight. It was real good. Have lots left so figure we will have it again Tuesday night. I may freeze the rest of it.

Blessings,Joann

"Give her of the Fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

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Okay stop all the comotion, I know everyone was just waiting for me to come back to Homestead blogger

I am sorry to have been like a pinball bouncing back and forth. I didn't like the way that Homestead doesn't have a way to moderate comments but I just missed all of my friends from here. I am glad to be back and will be posting pretty soon some pictures of our mini vacation to Lake Tahoe, we just got back and it was a real nice time...

"Give her of the Fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

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