A PIF, A RAK, and etc…

Well, here it is the middle of the last week of May! I had a wonderful birthday weekend and am looking forward to next week when I go to Michigan, with my big sister. It is our first road trip together, EVER! Keep in mind, I am 38 and she is 41. We did not grow up together as we have different mothers. We’re gonna have soooo much fun!

On the stitchy front, I received a beautifully stitched PIF today from Lisa! Thank you so much! I love it!!!

Here is a snap of the front:

and the reverse:

I just love the backing fabric (well, blue is my favorite color, lol)!!

I also mailed out a very super-shhhh RAK today as well as another PIF. Here are a couple of sneaky peaks:

I am so excited for the recipients I can’t stand it!

Home. Safe and Sound.

I finally made it back to central Florida late Tuesday afternoon. I made my way south from Front Royal to Waynesboro, VA via the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park and from Waynesboro to Roanoke, VA via the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a gorgeous experience!! Here are a few pics from the long, long drive:



I also managed to pick up 3 more kits along the way:

The Manse (Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace),
Civil War (from Manassas Battlefield),
and Mabry Mill (from Shenandoah National Park).

Now it's back to the grind of my Master's thesis. Hopefully I will be able to get a little stitching done in between writing.

Virginia

Ok, so I am on this whirlwind trip in Virginia this week. It started out to be a horrible trip because I was having car issues. I resolved that by renting a 2010 Pontiac G6 and can I just say sweeeeeeeeeeeet! I spent my first night on the road in Suffolk, VA (my original destination was Virginia Beach, but the stopped traffic on HWY 58 just west of Franklin for an hour changed that plan). I spent all of Wednesday in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach visiting family and friends. What good times!!

This morning, I woke up in Virginia Beach, in a hotel room on the beach, to watch the most glorious show ever! The sunrise was an experience everyone should have at least once in their life. Here is a pic of it:

Normal setting on camera

"Pop Art" setting on camera

I left around 10am heading north toward Arlington for a conference I am attending (for grad school). I took some pics of the foliage. Yea, I was driving and taking pics at the same time.


I also stopped in Williamsburg at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors Center. I managed to pick up a few neat things there.


Now I am in conference mode and really need to hit the sack. 7 am comes awful early when you're not used to it! :)

Update on Zanesville

Thought I would post an update on Zanesville now since I may not have it finished before I head to VA in the morning. I just have a little bit of the border to do. Yippee!


Over the next week, I plan to work on little things to make into Christmas cards. I don't want to drag anything big along with me on the trip. I will post pics when I get them done!

Wow! It's been a while!

I haven't been on here much lately. School is keeping me busy. It's a funny thing to say since I am only in 1 class per semester, but graduate school is a time-consuming aspect of life. I have been doing so much research that I feel my head is going to explode. So, I took a short trip to the middle of the country - Lincoln, Nebraska. Note to self - Never take a trip outside of central Florida in the winter again - unless it is to someplace warmer, lol. Anyway, I hoped to clear my head a little and get refocused on my term paper. Topic: The Historical Value of The Arabian Nights. Research done: very little previous research to peruse. Result: NEED NEW TOPIC! I am hoping to refocus my topic as somewhat of a biography of Harun al-Rashid and incorporate the "folkloric" Harun in my writing. Now, how will my professor take this as we are halfway through the semester. Ugh!

I will keep you informed...

In a lull...

I have been in a bit of a rut lately. I have a few yet to be finished projects and classwork for my Field of Study class. I am also still looking for a job. So, this past weekend I went to Lincoln, Nebraska for a break from my life. It was fun and a bit invigorating. It also gave me a few days to clear my head a little so I can refocus on my class.

On Sunday, I went to a Barnes & Noble in Lincoln and picked up the latest issue of New Stitches magazine. Of course my latest issues isn't necessarily your latest issue as I rely on the international post to get the magazine to the stores; this means we are usually a month (or an issue) behind because it is published in England. I guess the issue I picked up would be considered the October issue (#187). Anyway, inside this issue is a Polska Sampler design. It looks like an interesting design and one I am going to begin as soon as I get the correct fabric. I will try to post as I go on this one.



Of course, my trip cleared my head to the point that I decided to go in a different direction on my paper. Now, how to discuss that with my professor as we are at the halfway point in the semester. :)

Oh, and I gave "Frederick" as a gift to a friend of mine and he loved it!