october reading material

Now that I'm not buried in riveting reading material such as Corporate Finance and Business Law, I've rediscovered my love for reading.  I've got quite the stack going on next to my nightstand.

Yep, I really took a picture of my nightstand for you.

In case you're looking for some reading material, here's what I've been reading, in no particular order:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
This book is a good mix between 1984 and The Giver, both of which I count in my all-time favorite books.  Basically, the United States is now divided into the Capitol and 12 regions and each year, each region picks two tributes (all children) that have to fight it out to death.  I'm not doing this one justice.  But it's good.  Go over to Amazon or BN.com to read a review there.  I've moved on to the second book in the series, Catching Fire, so it was good enough to continue reading.

Weird by Craig Groeschel
This is a Christian book, and talks about how Christians should strive to be weird....in giving, in spending time with our families, etc.

Auschwitz by Miklos Nyiszli
My nook has a list of the NYT bestsellers.  I'm pretty sure this is an older book, but somehow made it on the list years later...and was only $1.99.  Anyway, Nyiszli is a doctor and was used by Mengele in Auschwitz, so this book presents a much, much different point of view than I'd ever read before.  As many of you know, I was a history major in college and the period that I love to study is WWII, so I was pretty geeked out by this book...but this one isn't for everyone.

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis
Hands down one of the most interesting books I've read in awhile.  Katie is only 22, and at 18 years old, she left Tennessee to move to Uganda.  Since then, she adopted 14 (fourteen!) girls and has started a thriving non-profit, Amazima Ministries, and did I mention she's 22?  Anyway -- it's a wonderful story of what all God is doing through her, and it's by far one of the best books I've read in awhile.  (Yes, I already said that.  But it's worth repeating.)

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Yes, I've read it numerous times.  No, it doesn't get old.

Keeping the Republic by Mitch Daniels
I wouldn't be a good little conservative if I didn't read this, would I?


If you've read a good book lately, please leave me a comment.  I'm always, always up for a new book (even if I never finish it).

projects on the horizon

Since I finished my nephew's quilt, I've got about 5 or 10 other projects on the near horizon.  And since I'm low on blog material, you're getting a sneak preview.  Lucky you!

This one's a birthday gift that's about a month late now.  Whoops.  I couldn't really justify working on a birthday gift when I desperately had to get that baby quilt done.

Diamonds...  Any guesses what I'm going to make with this?  Hint:  It's all along a patriotic theme.

Fall fabric.  Again, not exactly my style.

I'm going to use this yellow/teal/orange line from Joel Dewberry for one of my next two quilts.  I really do love this fabric, but unfortunately, it's going to be a gift.  (Fabric is from Lilly Bella Fabrics.)

Since CJ and I love -- no, are obsessed with -- the beach, I had to snatch up this line from Going Coastal to make a quilt for us.  All this fabric is cut, so I'll be starting in on this one soon ... as soon as I finish that belated birthday gift!  (Fabrics from Lilly Bella Fabrics and The Little Fabric Shop.)

Not sure why, but Bridget took a particular interest in my scrap fabric pile.  I'm going to be tearing into this one soon.  For starters, I've gathered quite a bit of scraps so far, even though I haven't really sewn that much.  But then I found a super cute pattern for a quilt that uses scrap fabrics only.  I'm probably more excited about this quilt than the others.

Stay tuned.  I know you're all excited.

pizza meatballs

I haven't been cooking much since CJ hasn't been home much, but I did manage to make these pizza meatballs a few weeks back.  CJ must have approved -- I'm pretty sure he went back for thirds!

I will warn you that this one took awhile to prepare - maybe an hour tops - but was worth it.  I only wish I had a professional camera and could make these look a little more appetizing than my phone camera does.

Head on over to Taste of Home if you want the full recipe!

first quilt...and nephew!

I finished my first quilt ... finally, and just on time!

Henry was quite bored by the entire process:

Here's the final product, nearly a full square at 41"x42".  Bridget wanted to help show off.

Here are a few close-ups of the fabrics.   (I love them.  Can you tell?)

I definitely learned quite a bit throughout this process.  The binding was by far the worst part.  I've got a few ideas for the next quilt I'm going to make, but I may need to call on some experienced quilters to help me out.

But anyway, who cares about a quilt when there's a cute new baby in the family?

Welcome, Carson!  We're so excited you're here!

we're alive!

Hi, friends.

We're still alive.  I just forgot about the blog for most of October.

I have no new CJ projects to report on today.  Between working 48-72 hours a week, he's been in class at least 6 hours every week, and he's been trying to cram in 190 hours of clinicals too...and then there's studying...and his wife...and he might need some sleep in there too...  So needless to say, he's got a pretty darn good excuse for not doing anything.

Well, I take half that back.  He did clean out the garage, enough for me to be able to park my jeep inside.  And really, when it comes down to it, that was the only thing I have begged and pleaded for him to do for me -- and I even helped.  And, it was done with a week to spare before the first frost.

I haven't settled into a routine per se, but I think I'm finally okay with the fact that I don't have anything to do when I come home.  It's okay if I want to take a nap after work or clean (which does happen every great once in awhile) or sew or mess around on pinterest or watch TV.  I earned it, darn it.  I'll be back later this week to report on a few projects.

In the midst of all of this, we welcomed our new (first!) nephew to the world last Sunday, so we're excited about that.  My sister-in-law has experienced some pretty major complications from the delivery though and is going through a rough time, so if you can, say a prayer for her.

That's the update.  Nothing exciting, really.  Just counting down the time until December when we hope to get some sort of life back...

life as we know it

Life is a little rocky for us right now, due to CJ's crazy schedule.  We're still managing to cram in some fun here and there and are definitely counting down to his graduation (2 1/2 months -- we can do it!).

For those of you who haven't seen CJ in months, here's proof that he does exist:

At the Colts home opener a few weeks ago.  Top row, baby!  (The seats were surprisingly still good!)

Yesterday, Leah and I completed the Wine at the Line 5K at Mallow Run Winery.  Leah has been training for the mini in a few months, so she went on ahead of me.  I walked most of the way, but jogged some.  I barely trained, but I figured if I couldn't walk 3 miles, I had bigger problems.  Leah told me I looked really good at the end, jogging to the finish line, but it was only because around mile 2.5, some 75-year old man power-walked past me and I was determined to not let him beat me.  Whatever it takes, right?

After the race

Eric waited for us at the winery ... Not sure what he was doing here?

CJ's birthday is today.  I was just thankful he didn't have to work, even if he did sleep most of the day.  We went out to a nice dinner downtown tonight.  I aimed to take a picture at the restaurant or downtown or something, but by the time I remembered, we were already in our pjs:

I have one post planned for this week and several sewing projects up my sleeve...maybe some cooking...so hang tight until we can get our act together again.

Hope all is well with everyone else...