Not Much Progress

Well, I haven't gotten much progress done on the stitching front. I did manage to finish the row I had been working on. I have been playing World of Warcraft and if I don't start stitching again soon my friend, Mary, is threatening an intervention. LOL


My friend and co-owner of CrossStitchAddiction cleaned out some boxes after she moved and RAKed me with a bunch of stuff!She sent me a bunch of different fabric. There's a little of everything here. Aida and even weave of all sorts of different counts.

Some really cute Halloween things. Pot holders, safety armbands and a light for trick or treating, and a printed panel from Daisy Kingdom (i think).

Little stockings for my Christmas tree.A craft idea organizer, a flower kit and a Detentions kit of a dragon sitting on top of a rock...I love dragons!

Then there is the bill organizer, a family record book, mini scrapbook, and family tree book. She had also sent me 2 UK magazines, The World of Cross Stitch and The Cross Stitcher and some freebie patterns that she printed out for me when I didn't have ink. Thank you so much Mary, I love it all!

I also received another RAK today from my friend Tara. She sent me some scrap booking stash. There is an adhesive dispenser, rhinestones, and stitches that look like nutrition labels but are for marriage and children! So cute!!! Thank you Tara!

And this is a PIF that started in Canada with SocialSue and is now in my house. It's really cute and I can't wait to start it.

My husband and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. He gave me these beautiful Black Hills Gold earrings. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Well, that's it for this week. I didn't have much to report on with stitching, but I have been spoiled. The plant is a spider plant that I haven't killed...yet. Until next week!

I have been busy this week with sick kids, preparing myself for quitting smoking, starting my new Yahoo group for self improvement, and a new contest in the CrossStitchAddiction Yahoo group.

With all of that I managed to get around 1000 stitches put into my son's letter. I had wanted to put in 2000 stitches this week, but because everyone has been sick it didn't happen.
I also tried out a disappearing ink fabric marker to grid a row for stitching. And I love it! It is so much easier than stitching it in and I trust these types of markers. I use to use them for hand applique in quilting.

I have almost gotten a few different projects for when I quit smoking kitted up. Scrap booking is all ready, knitting is almost ready, and I always have something ready to stitch. For those of you that knit too here is the link for my knitting blog... http://thecraftywitchsknittingbasket.blogspot.com/
And then there is the new contest for my CrossStitchAddiction group...but I will blog about that later.
Until next week.....

Beautiful Me - not about cross stitch

I started another Yahoo group. I am calling it Beautiful Me. Originally I intended it to be for weight loss, but then I realized that people (including me) sometimes need support for more than that.

I have had a break through in my life. It started when I asked my Dr for help with weight loss. I had been trying and failing with weight loss for years. He prescribed me with phenteramine. It has worked, but I needed more. I am an over eater. I thought maybe a support group would be the place for me. But even though this certain group says religion isn't involved, I have found that doesn't seem true. Their 12 step program was all about the Christian God...I am Pagan. We don't believe that a higher power can make all the bad things in our lives go a way. But I figured that I could deal with that. I sent the main office a message asking them about this. They told me that they didn't feel it endorsed one religion. I was worried about religious prejudice. But I decided to try and find an online meeting anyway...so I looked and I found one that was perfect for my schedule. It was a Yahoo group and at the very end of the group description it states, "The mention of God as your Higher Power is welcome and encouraged here". I know this wasn't a religious attack, but it didn't make me feel welcome. I want to know that if I am going to be discussing a topic like my weight, I want to feel completely comfortable in every way. I have absolutely no problem with Christians or their beliefs, but those beliefs are different than my own and I don't want that to be an issue anywhere I go.

Then the other day I had another breakthrough. I realized that all day, every day I do everything in my power to raise my two children to become healthy adults. I make sure the food they eat is healthy, the toys they play with are safe, and they have the proper clothes for the proper season. But the one thing that would kill them if they didn't have wasn't the best I could give them...air. I am a smoker. I have been smoking for 14 years. When I catch a cold, more times than not I get a cough so bad that I loose my voice. It makes it so I can't breath or sleep and it weakens my bladder muscles (OK, that was hard to admit). Before smoking, I could carry a tune. I joined another support group succesfully...quitnet.com. My quit date will be April 22.

So I had 2 break through already this year and realized that it is time for a life style change. And that is why I started this new group. It is a support group for people who want to change their life style. Weather it be one thing or their whole life. And it is open to everybody. If you are interested in joining, here is the link. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/beautifulme/ I will also post the link in the margin of this blog. Thank you for hearing my story...

I started a new project this week from HAED. It's a the letter I by Selina Fenech. I plan to give it to my son for his birthday. If not his birthday, then Yule Tide. I had started it on Monday night, but I had to start over on Tuesday because I left out a whole row! But I still managed to put in 1757 stitches. I am hoping to put in 2000 more stitches by next Monday.

I have also been doing some scrapbooking this week. I have so many pictures and I need to get everything documented before I forget everything. I tried scrapbooking a few years ago, but only had been able to get a few pages done. My last apartment was too small for a kitchen table, so I had to do it on the floor and that wasn't any fun. You can see pictures of them on my Multiply account... http://jessneal.multiply.com/photos/album/29/Elizabeths_baby_book

I wish I had more to blog about this week. Maybe next week...