PIF, Summer Movie Thoughts, Last of Summer Vaca Pics & Life

Well, I can't believe over a month has passed since my last post. Life here has been sooooo busy. I feel like I have been saying that for over a year now. But, I am still waiting for things to slow down.

First off...here is the beautiful PIF I received from Janaina. Isn't this towel pretty? You should see the back. Her stitching is flawless!!!

Speaking of PIFs...Deb, Leigh & Ann...please, don't give up on me. I am almost finished with my gifts for you 3 and hope to mail them out before long. One is completely ready to be mailed, one is stiched, but not completed and the last one I am about 1/2 way through stitching. So...please, know that I am working on it and will mail them all hopefully by Oct. 1st at the lastest.

Update on my boss...she is doing remarkably well and if you didn't know she had had this surgery done, you wouldn't know. She went on a trip this week with her sister and will be gone most of next week as well. This brings up things with my work...I am still pretty swamped there and also in the process of trying to find a new job. My boss is wanting to retire and sell her business, so....

Summer Movie Thoughts:
Bandslam...I really enjoyed this movie. Great music!
GI Joe...enjoyed it more than I thought I would, an enjoyable action movie
Post Grad...really cute
My Sister's Keeper...good, but sad. Different ending from book
Ice Age 3...cute, but not as good as first one
The Ugly Truth...I cannot tell you how disappointed I was in this movie. Very disappointed.
District 9...much more violent than I like...walked out after 20 minutes and went to see Julie & Julia
Transformers 2...not bad. Thought the first one was better.

Top picks from summer...no particular order:

Star Trek...loved it! I especially loved Spock!
Harry Potter...always great!
The Proposal...great summer comedy/romance
UP!...such a sweet, wonderful movie!
X-Men Origins: Wolverine...really liked this alot. Much better than X-Men 3
Julie & Julia...Meryl Streep was great as Julia. Loved the relationship between Julia & her husband.
Time Traveler's Wife...sad, but good


Last of the Vaca Pics:

Glacier National Park...Montana

Red Canyon...Glacier National Park...Alberta, Canada

A moose!...near Red Canyon...GNP...Canada

Grinnell Lake...GNP...Montana

Hidden Falls...on hike to Grinnell Lake...GNP...Montana

Old Faithful...Yellowstone National Park...Wyoming

Hot Spring...Midway Geyser Basin...YNP...Wyoming

Buffalo!...near Canyon Village area...YNP...Wyoming

My favorite area of Yellowstone...the pools of West Thumb Geyser Basin...YNP

A float trip down the Snake River...Grand Teton National Park...Wyoming

The Grand Teton Mountain Range...Grand Teton National Park...Wyoming

Craters of the Moon National Monument...Idaho

Oregon Trail...Oregon Trail Interpretive Center...near Baker City, Oregon

Multnomah Falls...Columbia River Gorge, near Portland, Oregon
Twilight Trivia Note: This particular Falls can be seen in the background of the Vampire Baseball scene. It can also be seen briefly when Bella & Edward are talking near the river.

Back to Reality!

Well, my arrival back home from vacation has been a big jolt back to reality. My boss has been diagnosed with breast cancer! This is her second bout with breast cancer and she is scheduled to have a double masectomy in a little over a week from now. Fortunately her prognosis is excellent and she is handling the news very well. This also means some changes with work. Since it is just her and I at her business, all her work has now been put in my lap until she recovers. It has also made her realize she would like to retire very soon and sell the business. So...I guess that means I will have to look for a new job within the next year. UGH!!! Trying to find a place that will work with a schedule and the people are nice to work with/for is very hard.

Needless to say I haven't done much stitching in the last 2 weeks. Hope to get back to it soon.

I will post some more pictures of my time in Washington state and Victoria, BC from our trip. More pictures from other locations to follow.

Fruit at Pike's Place Market in Seattle

Lots of snow and fog at Mt. Rainier

A glimpse of Mt Rainier



Ruby Beach

The Hall of Mosses - Hoh Rain Forest - Olympic National Park
Hurricane Ridge

Victoria Harbor, British Columbia

Deception Pass


Nooksack Falls

Back from the land of Twilight!

Well, I made it back from vacation last weekend and have spent the week trying to catch up. You know how it goes...back to work, laundry, unpacking suitcases, etc., etc., etc...

First off...yes, I did do some stitching on my trip. Here's proof!

Design: Vlad's Vash Day
Designer: Raise the Roof
Fabric: 28 ct. Heather by Picture This Plus

I have had this in my stash for quite some time and decided to pick it for this trip since I was going to the home of the Vampires...Forks, Washington and the Olympic National Park. I'm about halfway through the piece and it has been a nice stitch thus far, though there is a lot of white and black in this piece.

I've been to Washington state before, but it has been years ago. I wanted my husband and son to go and see what a beautiful place it was. We started planning the trip over a year ago, long before I ever read Twilight books or saw the Twilight movie. We knew we would be going to the Olympic National Park and Port Angeles, but we purposely added Forks and La Push after Twilight and especially since our 21 year old niece (a huge Twilight fan) was going to go on our trip (for the Washington portion at least).

On this blog post I'm just going to show pics for Twilight fans. (I will post other pics from the trip in weeks to come.)

The famous sign!

The sign outside the real Forks High School.

Billy must be at work @ Forks Police Dept.


The sign as you cross into the Quileute Reservation in LaPush, WA.

First Beach, LaPush, WA - Quileute Reservation.


The sign as you leave the Quileute Reservation and head back to Forks.
The real Bella Italia in Port Angeles, WA.
For the curious - yes, we ate there and yes, I had the mushroom ravioli. It was delicious!

I'm sure most Twilight fans know this, but...the movie was not filmed at any of these locations. It was all filmed mostly in Oregon. The high school used in the movie is Kalama High in Kalama, WA. These locations are "book" locations.

Vacation pics at last!

Since I don't have a finish this week to show or anything besides lots of snow and backstitching (boring) to show on my Train project, here are some pictures from my summer vacation. I know, I know. I'm very late posting these, but better late than never. :-)

Here they are:

Lincoln birthplace and Memorial: Kentucky










Sear's Tower: Chicago

Navy Pier: Chicago

View of Chicago skyline with Buckingham Fountain in center

A wild horse in Theodore Roosevelt National Park: North Dakota

Devil's Tower: Wyoming

Crazy Horse Monument/Memorial: Custer, South Dakota

NOTE: The hole in center is 10 stories tall. This sculpture is massive!!!

Sculpture of what Mountain will eventually look like. Mountain can be seen through hole under pointing arm.

Mt. Rushmore: South Dakota

Cathedral Spires: Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota

Ram in Custer State Park

Buffalo roaming at Wind Cave National Park: Custer, South Dakota

The Badlands of South Dakota

Probably one of the places I enjoyed the most this trip was the Crazy Horse Monument/Memorial. Hearing the story of how the monument started and the dedication of the sculptor (Korczak Ziolkowski) and now his family to continue this project without any funding was fascinating. Touring the sculptor's studio and home were so awe inspiring. A truly brilliant, dedicated artist.

Back from vacation with a couple of finishes!

Wow! It's hard to believe that it's been about a month since I blogged! Not to mention that my blog started has had a birthday in the last few days as well.




Had an absolutely wonderful time on my vacation. Here's an itenerary of our trip:


-Drove from our house in the Florida panhandle to Houston,Texas, saw an Astros game (Astros vs. Cincinnatti Reds)



-Drove to San Antonio, Texas, saw Alamo and Riverwalk. Also went to a Cross-stitch store called Cross-Stitch plus in the Castle Hills area of San Antonio. Nice little shop. Picked up some much needed threads and couple of patterns.
-Drove to Carlsbad, New Mexico over 2 days we saw Carlsbad Caverns and went to drive-in movie theater http://www.nps.gov/cave (picture of natural entrance into caverns on right)
-Drove through Roswell, NM and saw UFO Museum on way to Albuquerque, NM
-Drove to Holbrook, Arizona along Route 66, saw Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. http://www.nps.gov/pefo Stayed in historic Wigwam Hotel along Rt 66. Saw Native American dance in Holbrook historic plaza and toured 1898 Courthouse that is now a museum
-Drove to Kayenta, Arizona after touring Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, AZ, winds were horrible 35-40 mph sustained with gusts of over 55 mph. They closed all the tours at the canyon, but you could still do rim drive. A beautiful Canyon on Navajo land. http://www.nps.gov/cach/
-Drove through Monument Valley http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/monument_valley/ and toured Arches National Park http://www.nps.gov/arch (picture of Double Arch on Right), both in Utah, then drove to Cortez, Colorado where we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast for several days. The B&B was an old wooden schoolhouse that had been built in 1907. http://www.lebanonschoolhouse.com/
-Drove to Dolores and Durango, CO for the day
-Drove the San Juan skyway in Colorado. Saw Telluride, the plush skytown of the rich and famous...wasn't overly impressed. The area was beautiful, but snooty. Went to the hot springs in Ouray, it was a beautiful small town nestled high in the mountains. http://www.ouraycolorado.com/Hot+Springs+Pool
-Took old narrowgauge steamtrain through the mountains from Durango, CO to Silverton, CO. The scenery was gorgeous! The train ride was 3 1/2 hrs. long. Silverton was old mining town high in the mountains above Ouray. It was very much like stepping back in time to the late 1800s. The entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places. There is only one paved road and all the other streets are dirt/gravel. The buildings look like an old movie set and they even have stagecoach tours through town. It was neat being in this old Western town and seeing a stagecoach go by. Took bus ride back to Durango. http://www.durangotrain.com/otrain.com/ (picture of train going through San Juan mountains)
-Toured Mesa Verde...the cliff dwellings outside Cortez, CO. http://www.nps.gov/meve
-Drove to Shawnee, Oklahoma where we have friends. It is right outside Oklahoma City. He is a pastor of a small church in Shawnee.
-Went to see the Oklahoma City Memorial from the bombing of April 19, 1995. Very moving. http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/
-Drove all the way home from Oklahoma City. It was a 15 hour drive! I don't think we will do that again in one day!






We drove over 5300 miles!!!!!!!