Blessings in Disguise

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops...
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise!

One of my favorite songs lately and which I hear EVERY time I get in the car is a song called Blessings by Laura Story. Obviously I haven't let it sink into my heart enough because today I really got the picture! I was taking Victoria to Safety Town and we were running late. (as usual)  It was downpouring rain!!! The kind where you look up to see if someone is above you with a bucket. Even running to the van, we got wet. As we approached Main, I remembered that I had forgotten my cell phone. Victoria thought we should go back and get it but we were already gonna be late. I told her we'd be fine for today. We'd only made it down two or three blocks just past Bonanzaville when something on the road made a terrible sound. What was it, you wonder? US! The van had a flat tire! You gotta be kidding me??????? Pouring rain, and remember... NO cell phone. Seriously? I decided that I at least had to get off Main. We pulled up to the next turn onto the frontage road. By then I thought, we have to try to make it to Bonanzaville and pray that they are open. We luckily made it to their parking lot and ran for the door. Soaked but so grateful that their door was unlocked, we went in. Needless to say, they were a bit shocked someone was there on a day like this. We used their phone to call Brett for our rescue. Thanks heavens he was in town! While we waited, the older gentleman working that day, visited with us and spoiled us with treats and souvenirs. Victoria and I got to spend some time together and talk about her concerns about Safety Town and going to school in the Fall. We had a great time! Brett did come, brought us the other car, and even stayed in the pouring rain to change the tire and get it fixed. Isn't he awesome!!!!?
The whole adventure was not exactly what was in our plans today! So why would I title this "blessings in disguise" and mention Laura Story's song?? Well, we certainly had raindrops today and there were certainly blessings in disguise!!! 1- We could have made it to the freeway before it went flat. Can you imagine? 2-Bonanzaville could have been closed and 3-Brett could have been out of town. BUT... we didn't, they weren't and he wasn't. How lucky are we!!!

So a few lessons I learned today...

1. Don't forget your cell phone! Especially when it's pouring rain!

2. Listen to your kids. They have things to say and are a lot smarter than we give them credit.

3. Hubby's are awesome! 'Nough said!

4. Take time to play in the rain. It's made up of the stuff that makes us clean anyways!

5. Be friendly with people. You might just make someone's day!

Happy Birthday Shay!

We had a really, really full weekend. Today is my 34th 25th and holding birthday! LOL It was a great day! At Church, I got to teach Gospel Principles. {I really do enjoy teaching the Gospel} And everyone was so kind to wish me a Happy Birthday! I have got some amazing friends! We had to take Shauna to the airport after lunch. ;0( Thanks so much lady for coming! We love you! For the afternoon a bit of a nap was in order and of course visiting with the rest of our guests. In the evening, Brett made me an amazing dinner! Roast, potatoes, onions & carrots, and a delicious salad. It was perfection! YUMMMY! Thanks, Love. After dinner, we opened presents. I am one spoiled kid! I got a silver charm necklace, a new skirt, a RED necklace (red's my favorite color), some spending money (I'm saving for a fancy camera), some new sandals, lots of home-made cards & a paper rose, and some gorgeous flowers! Thanks everybody! For dessert, we had yummy Eclair cake!  It's one of my favorites lately. (Thanks for sharing the recipe, Matthew!;)  My cute Fam sang and helped me blow out candles.What a great Bday!



Happy Birthday to me!

Bring on the Blonde Jokes

After 2 years of a Hair Color Adventure, the BLONDE Shay is back. I've done really dark brown, light brown and red on my way back. It's been fun but when I asked Brett to be honest and tell me what he liked best- he said blonde. It took me a while to make an appoitment (and a very LONG 4 hours at the Salon-- I have lots & lots of hair!!!) but I finally got it done. It'll take bit to get used to it. It always makes me do a double-take in the mirror! LOL But Brett calls me Barbie so I'll take that as he approves!

So go ahead... bring on the Blonde jokes cuz it's here to stay for a while! ;)

TOFW 2011: Team Minneapolis

I had the opportunity this year to be on the TOFW Minneapolis Team. Basically that means I got to be involved behind the scenes of having the Event come to Minneapolis. We had phone conferences and Pep Rally calls months before the event. We kept weekly contact with the Team leads through email and a Team Blog. The ladies in charge were so great! Tennisa, works for Desert Book as the TOFW Manager and is so positive and encouraging. Breanna, the regional Team Lead was so sweet and made our entire team home-made purple flower pins- so darling! Patty was our Stake's Team Captain and she's always amazing at everything she does. What a privilege to be a part of such an amazing group!

Prior to the Event, team members were responsibility to pass the word and info out about the Event to those in our area. I so appreciate all the hard work that it takes to put on an Event this size. (Not that I didn't appreciate it before- It's just you never really know all that's involved until you are actually a part of planning it) It was so great to finally meet all the awesome ladies involved after getting to know them over the phone.

TOFW Team Minneapolis 2011





Such FUN ladies!



At the Event, we had early Team meetings [not my favorite part of the weekend. LOL - the early part of it at least] and each got assignments to perform. Everyone pitched in and helped out where they were needed to make it a huge success. As a thank-you, they gave us a  few special gifts for being on the team (as if meeting such incredible ladies wasn't enough). It was a great experience! 

As part of my assignment, I was put on the Possibility Pack Team. We helped collect, sort, count and express thanks for all the items donated. Then we took sifts during lunch to man the assembly line. Afterwards, we helped pack the boxes, label them and get them ready to donate. The ladies I worked with were so much fun! What a great opportunity to serve and have a blast doing it!

I did miss spending the whole time with my own girlfriends. It was weird to just meet up with them when I could. But they were great to let me just jump back into the fun when I was there. Thanks to Jen and Kristen for eating a fast lunch with me so that I could be there for my sift. Sure love you ladies! You're the BEST!



Goodbye Green ...Hello Spring!

I can't believe it! I broke one of the MAJOR rules! I know... what a bad person! I'm so ashamed! I couldn't just be patient for 2 more stinkin' days! What is this World coming to???.............

LOL Well, O.K.- It's one of my own rules AND one that drives Brett & others a little bit nuts!
You see, normally each Holiday/Month deserves it's own decorations the ENTIRE month. Just because New Years falls on the 1st OR Valentines on the 14th OR St. Paddy's on the 17th- doesn't mean that they don't deserve to have the same amount of time for decorating and celebrating as the others. So- it's a rule at the Seamons' home that- Every month has it's own decorations for the WHOLE month! They can come down on the last day but NO decorating for the next month until the 1st! If Brett did roll his eyes at me (which he never does)- this is when you he would do that! LOL
....Well, after all these years, it finally happened! I broke my own rule! You can blame it on the LONG Winter or Spring Fever or whatever... but I took down all the green to welcome the Spring! So there! Some one's gotta do something to get Spring to come! LOL

The kids don't complain though. They LOVE the new box every month. In fact this (see collage) is what they did all night!!! They read all our Easter books that we just got out! And they played with all the stuffed bunnies & Easter toys without any arguing all evening! It was heaven! What good kids!

Happy Spring!

Lost Behind the Sewing Machine

I have been a little MIA these past couple weeks. I kinda have been struggling with a self pity-party of friendship changes and the way I cope is usually with fabric. It's a constant friend of mine- something I can always count on to be there (even if I don't want it to be ;) Literally!!!...Have you seen my Craft Room??? LOL!) So.. here's what I've been up to lately with my eternal friend:
Lilly's Bedroom Quilt. This is McKenzie's first Quilt. She kind of got thrown into a huge project by allowing me to "help" her with it! ;) The fabric is from Moda's Frolic line. McKenzie learned how to piece, pin, iron, put on borders, and bind. (Well..sorta- she kept us fed for sure! We did discover that she is an amazing "Nester" if nothing else! LOL ) The quilt turned out way too cute! One down & at least one more to go!! Hang in there, Maggie- we'll get to yours soon. I promise!:

Gobble Gobble Quilt completed finally. I have had this for quite a while. Just got brave enough to get it to the quilter. Got the binding on in one day- I was so excited! The back of my couch is all set for Thanksgiving:

A Closeup of the Quilting. I LOVE it! It's in variegated thread:

Jill Erickson's stockings (This is her first applique project- pretty awesome!] Jill has wanted to learn applique for a long time. She finally got brave enough. She found a picture of some stockings online and asked me if it were possible to make them & if I'd teach her. Of COURSE! Anything's possible with a picture! And a chance to share my fabric room & fabric for applique- Absolutely!!! We have a few finishing touches but they are really turning out cute! Way to go, Jill!:

A Christmas line of fabric that has taken on a life of it's own!!! But it's so darling! I found this fabric 2 Fridays ago. I had NO idea what I was going to make with them but I bought some of it all anyways. I did a little google search and went crazy! Can't wait to get them all quilted! I'm going to try to do a couple of them myself! Yeah for me!
The Christmas Quilt: I bought soft. minky cream for the back and then I have a striped binding. The brown stripes on thw quilt are chenille so they will fray after I wash it. It'll be a bit like a rag quilt effect. So freakin' darling! I hope to get it quilted with some kind of holly berry pattern. I can't wait!!!:

My December Wall hanging cuz everyone should have a wall hanging for every month, right? I think I'll add stars or peppermints buttons to the tree tops. I have brown binding ready as well.:

My Tree skirt for the "big tree" that I'll someday have. LOL! {It might look a little humungous under my 4-foot fiber optic tree} Once it's quilted, I'll cut it between the two side presents and cut out the middle of the red bow. Then bind it in that striped fabric on the right. I am so excited about this one!!!!:

Peppermint Lollipops for the kids. The kids LOVED the peppermints on the wall hanging and asked if they could have some for fun. Why not? I think they turned out really cute. Glory loves to really lick it. Too funny!:

Here's a close up of them:

Thanks Fabric Friend!!! Such fun things we can do together!

Painting Pretty Piggies

The little girls wanted to paint our nails today. Such pretty piggies!

Quilting Craziness

It's been a LONG time since I have relished in my fabric collection. To tell the truth- it's been a bit overwhelming. LOL! But I have braved the task and did a few little projects while my hubby's been away. They are soooo CUTE! I can't hardly stand it! (Insert eye roll from my 9 year old- she thinks I'm crazy about fabric! LOL! ;)

First...Back in Utah during my time with Lori, I made a stop to a couple of Quilt shops and came home with  some adorable fabric of a line called Fruitcake. Of course, I didn't quite have anything in mind- oops!- except that I wanted it to be for a January-hang-over-the-back-of-my-couch quilt. I searched around a bit and found some inspiration. Here's the inspiration I found online:

And the ADROABLE finished project: (Well, at least the quilt top is done. Add it to the pile of  "to be quilted"- LOL! Dang! That pile needs some help)

Next, my Seasonal Wall Hanging Collection is complete. They are so stinkin' fun! I LOVE them!

Finally, my annual Ornament Exchange is quickly approaching. Well- ok - 70 or so more days BUT time's a tickin'. As anyone who's ever come to one of my Partays knows, the "Story Behind the Ornament" is just as important than the actual thing. Since my obsession has been quilting lately, I wanted to embrace the idea and make something quilted and with fabric. Thanks to the amazing technology we are blessed with in these latter-days, I found the perfect thing! AND to add even more sentiment to the Ornament Story-- I decided that besides the 20 styrofoam balls and the 3600 pins I need (I know...you are so disappointed that these were not down there), everything I use HAS to be from my Craft room. It might get a tiny bit tricky and I've been sorely tempted to go buy some knick-knacks or certain ribbon but I am determined to make it happen. I am so excited! Here's a sneak peek:

Yeah for fabric!

Buggy Wheel Rug

While in the WMSTR Ladies Activities Building, I found a new project for myself! A Buggy Wheel rug!! I love rugs! These things are awesome! You can make them smaller out of bicycle rims. I'm so going out to find me some!

Lost in a Good Book

For those wondering why my constant Partays have suddenly come to an end....

HELP! My mind is not my own this week! I have seriously been invaded!

Don't panic though. I have simply been lost to the sci-fi world that Stephenie has created. Hopefully- especially after a couple really, really late nights- that woman (Meyer) will give me my life back. LOL! Good thing I am not an avid reader by nature OR I might never return to my little grey house on our small town street. (Although you'd never know since my Fargo friends have ruined me with their love for this author- Thanks a lot ladies! Seriously, 3329 pages in the last couple of months is almost too much to comprehend. LOL) With the last page turned and my RWB bookmark finally laying on the side table-- my dishes, laundry, my dear fam & my neglected blog may finally find me. But- dang- it's SO hard to find my way back!

LOL!

Gotta love being lost with Stephenie Meyer!