Secret Santa Swap 2012

A Christmas SWAP - I'm so excited! Shawnee wanted all swappers to answer a few questions to help out our partners so here they are... 1. What are your hobbies? I love to read, sew, quilt, scrapbook, and make cards. 2. What are your favorite colors? Red! I love the traditonal Christmas colors but also pink and lime green. Also liking teals right now. 3. Do you collect anything? Not really unless you count fabric. 4.Are you allergic to any fibers or animals? I am allergic to cats but I live with one and so I stay medicated. 5. Do you have any pets? I have a Mini poodle named Bueller. My daughter has a cat named Boots and a guinea pig named Nester. 6. Coffee, Tea, or Chocolate? Love all three but only green or herbal teas (no black or red tea, please). I love flavored coffees and drink a lot of tea especially Blueberry green tea and Peppermint tea. 7.What do you like to read? A good thriller and sometimes a sweet romance. My favorite authors are Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson. I do have a list of books that I've read this year and last on my blog to give you a good idea. 8. Do you prefer Cookies or Candies as a sweet? Both. I really like dark chocolate! 9. What is your favorite holiday treat? Chocolate covered cherries! 10. Describe your favorite holiday tradition. Putting up the tree and also celebrating my daughter's birthday. She will be 17 on December 25. 11. Did you believe in Santa as a child? I still do! 12. When do you open presents? Christmas morning! 13. Do you put up a tree and when? If not, how do you celebrate? Yes we do. Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving or the next if we go out of town for Thanksgiving. 14. Does your tree have a theme? No. 15. What has been your favorite gift to give? to receive? I love to give homemade gifts. My favorite Christmas gift EVER was my daughter. I also love getting pj's, slippers, and socks to keep me warm. Also love knitted things like scarves because I can't knit and am in awe of those who can. Merry Christmas!

First Snow Day 2012

No, I didn't take any pictures but I wish I had. We received just a light dusting of what looked like a pretty big storm that hit just north of us but it was enough to cancel school today. And BRRRR its cold outside. However, my the end of the week, the highs are suppose to be near 60. Go figure!

Resolutions

Last year at this time, I posted a couple of resolutions. So I thought before I made any new ones for 2012, I thought I would check on how I did in 2011...

My resolutions were:

1. Craft more. Make more time to sew and scrapbook. I completed one quilt, made several aprons, and attended 2 scrapbook retreats. I didn't craft as much as I would have liked but I would say I did ok on the resolution.

2. Read more. I used to read all the time and I just don't anymore and I miss it.
Need to work on this one. I did go through several periods were I did a lot of reading but during the last couple of months, hardly read at all.

3. Learn to say no. Did great here - don't think I did anything that I didn't really want to do.

4. Make better use of my time. Not sure about this either.

5. Get healthier. Need to get back to exercising. Did AWESOME here! After the doctor yelled at me in March for gaining 8 more pounds over the winter months, I hit it hard and along with my husband, we started the 17 Day Diet. I took off 25 pounds and my husband took off 40. We started mountain biking and joined a gym. I went from a size 12 to a size 4 in pants and am off of my blood pressure meds.

6. Get rid of the clutter. Work in progress but made a dent.

7. And blog more. FAILED!!!

So now, off to work on my 2012 list.
Happy New Year!

New Years 2012

Cliff, Courtney, and I started the new year right with a hike in nearby DuPont forest. AWESOME!

Secret Santa Swap

I have joined Shawnee's Secret Santa Swap at flirtyapronswap.blogspot.com
Here are my Swap Quentionnaire answers:

1. What are your hobbies? I sew, quilt some, and do some papercrafting such as scrapbooking and card making. I also read. And this past summer, I also did some mountain biking.

2. What are your favorite colors? RED! I like black and red or red and green (for Christmas). I actually like deeper shades of red and green as well as the Christmas shades. I also like pink and brown.

3. Do you collect anything? I have quite a collection of fabric but I wouldn't say that I collect it. LOL I do like aprons and coffee mugs. I also love cookbooks.

4. Are you allergic to any fibers or animals? I am allergic to cats but I have one so I stay medicated.

5. Do you have any pets? We have 3 pets. Our baby is a (rather large) 2 year old toy poodle. His name is Bueller. Our cat is black with white paws. She is about 8 years old and is named Boots. We also have guinea pig, Nester who is about a year old. They are all spoiled rotten.

6. Coffee, Tea, or Chocolate? All of the above! I love flavored coffees especially ones that are around at Christmas. I prefer whole bean so I can grind myself to use in the French Press. I also have a Keurig and love the K-cups. Mocha nut fudge is my favorite. I drink a lot of tea mostly herbal and green. I really don't like black tea and like green fruit blends such as Blueberry Green tea. I love all chocolate (hot or cold) especially dark.

7. What do you like to read? Anything. I read alot of quilting books and magazines. I also read fitness magazines. I read current fiction. Some of my favorite authors include Debbie Macomber, Nicholas Sparks, and James Patterson.

8. Do you prefer Cookies or Candies as a sweet? I love cookies but have tried hard to break the habit in order to watch my weight. I also love candy especially dark chocolate. I like peppermint candy canes, Andes mints, and peanut butter cups, pretzel and peanut M&M's.

9. What is your favorite holiday treat? Cookies and fudge. I like making cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Chai tea lattes remind me of Chritmas.

10. Describe your favorite holiday tradition. Making cookies and putting up the tree.

11. Did you believe in Santa as a child? I still do!

12. When do you open presents? We open one on Christmas Eve and the rest Christmas morning.

13. Do you put up a tree and when? If not, how do you celebrate? We do put up a tree. We put on up usually after Thanksgiving or the beginning of December. Often we travel for Thanksgiving and so its usually the following weekend.

14. Does your tree have a theme? Not really. Some homemade. Some received as gifts. But just about every ornament has a memory or story behind it.

15. What has been your favorite gift to give? To receive? My favorite gift that I EVER received was my Baby Girl, Courtney Jo, that was born on December 25, 1995. That's right, she was born on Christmas Day. She will be 16 this year and is the greatest gift that I have ever received.
I can't think of what my favorite gift to give was. I enjoy making gifts such as quilts or even as simple as a pair of flannel pj's. I just know I LOVE finding that perfect gift for Courtney or my husband, Cliff and seeing the happiness when they receive it. For example, several years ago, Courtney had wanted an American Girl but didn't think she would get one because they are so expensive. I received so much pleasure seeing her so happy when she opened the doll Christmas morning.

I hope that helps you learn a little more about me.
Merry Christmas!

I Fail

So, its September 23rd - the first day of fall and I haven't posted since January - I so FAIL!!!

New Flirty Apron Swap

I can't wait to get my partner and start sewing!