Update: Double irish chain top...DONE! Path to Pembroke top... 70% done. Baby quilt... giving me more fits than its worth. I'll never, never, never, try to make a pattern from a picture again! Oh, it's probably 65% done, even though my seam ripper has been over a quarter of it...grumble, grumble... But hooray for ONE FINISHED TOP!

Sigh. Bloggy friends, I quit. After a week off from sewing I sat down before church tonight to begin fixing the baby quilt pieces. There are A pieces that go with B pieces and, you guessed it, I started sewing A's to A's. I did 6 before I caught myself! On top of that, our internet is down for some reason and I'm posting this via cell phone. I sure hope things improve when I return from church!!

No time to sew...

I had a rough and busy week, so I didn't find any time to sew...which means there's nothing to blog about...which is why I was never sure about keeping a blog in the first place.... At any rate, I thought I would at least pop in and post something for the whole 3 people who read this.... Have a great Labor Day weekend!

A fantastic friend...

Yesterday after work I was having a rough day. One of those, get a Diet Coke and some m&m's and go for a drive on some slow-driving back roads. So you can imagine my absolute delight when I got home and found THIS is my mailbox from my friend Becca:
That's right! Bonnie Hunter's Scraps and Shirttails! But wait! It gets better! I opened it, and LOOK!
(Sorry, that pic is a little blurry, but I was in a hurry. A blurry hurry.)

So, of course, I had to whip up a little thank you! I won't reveal it just yet, but I will give a sneak preview!
So stay tuned for more details! I can't wait to share this little project with ya'll!

Accomplished tonight: One gift for a special friend. Details tomorrow.

Sleepy Sampler Saturday...

(Note: It's freezing here!! I'm on my porch in a knee-length skirt and polo shirt and I need a quilt wrapped around me!! Whoever heard of 68*F weather in the middle of August?!)

Today has been a sleepy kind of day. I have a mile-long list of intentions, but no energy yet to go get-em. I'd really like to get a couple more blocks made on my sampler.... Yes, the Queen of WIPs is taking on a sampler. Am I crazy? I have wanted to do one for awhile now. I think it would be the best way to learn new techniques bit by bit. I tried designing my own…but didn’t think it would look very good… Plus, there are lots of “mega sampler” pattern books out there—Amish Circle, Dear Jane, Dear Hannah, Civil War Diary, Civil War Love Letters, and Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler, just to name a few. I’ve checked all these out over the last year or two, wishing I would dare to take on such a project.

Confession: I am often easily intimidated and overwhelmed. So while I was evaluating these books, the pieced triangles in Dear Jane intimidated me and the nothing-but-foundation-patterns in the Civil War quilt books intimidated me. As a long time reader of Jennifer Chiaverini’s books I knew about Sylvia’s quilt and was intrigued by it, but didn’t seriously consider it until I found the newly published pattern book at my public library.

So, back to this confession of mine. This intimidation often spills over into fabric…I often find that I can’t bear to cut fabric in my stash out of some paralyzing fear that I will waste it, ruin it, or otherwise put it into something that ultimately will never be finished or will be ugly. I can’t bear to cut up all this beautiful fabric in my stash… but I definitely want to USE it!

So I think from now on I will post "Sampler Saturday" posts, and show you my progress. So, here's what I have from last week:

Un-sewing…

Ugh.

It's what I get for not using a pattern.

Last night I completed the top and bottom pieced border (the picture above) for the baby quilt ... only to discover ... when I laid it out ... that the side borders will be all wrong.

By one-half inch.

So tonight, I ripped.

And ripped.

And ripped some more.

And now tomorrow, I have to take these strips and whack off that one-half inch.

At least it's fixable, right?

Giveaway Round-ups

Kerri at lovely little handmades is giving away a frame from The Green Pickle, and throwing in a red and aqua charm pack! And I'm with Kerri, I love the little birdie frame!
Heather at a la mode fabric is also having a red and aqua charm pack giveaway (she calls them coins though...is a 6" square a coin, not a charm?) Anyway, check her out--her blog is super cute too and her quilts are colorful!
Rachel at p.s. I quilt is celebrating The Quilt Shoppe's two year anniversary by having a giveaway...a $50 gift certificate! This one ends August 23rd.

Working on the pieced border for the baby quilt today... Coming together quite nicely! I love string piecing- it goes so fast!

My Sewing Machine

A late entry to the Sew, Mama, Sew meme:

What brand and model do you have?
Kenmore 19001

How long have you had it?
I truly don't remember when it was purchased but it was sometime before 1997.

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?
I don't remember (as it was a gift from my parents and was purchased over a decade ago), but I would guess around $700?

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
I have sewn quilts, purses, pillows for my couch, curtains, clothes, just about everything.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?
I sew a moderate amount, but I don't think the machine gets a lot of wear and tear. I'm not using it for hours upon hours everyday. (Yet.)

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?
I like my machine. The embroidery technology is a bit old and clunky, but I don't use that much anymore anyway. And no name for my machine. If I had to come up with one on the spot, I'd call her Trudy.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?
The stitch lock feature. I love using it, but boy, those locks are hard to rip out!

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?
The embroidery technology, like I said. It takes these clunky, expensive cartridges that you can't even buy without special ordering them from Sears, and it doesn't allow for fancy monogram styles. That, and it sure is heavy!

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!
I don't remember any exciting stories...sorry!

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?
Compared to what else is out there, no I wouldn't. If I needed to buy a new machine, I wouldn't choose this one as a replacement.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?
Decide what kind of sewing you are interested in and what kind of sewing you will be doing the most. If you don't care about embroidery or monograms, don't spend extra for a machine with that feature.

Do you have a dream machine?
A Bernina 830. Hey, dream big, right!? But seriously, any machine with a stitch regulator and some good monogram embroidery features would be a dream for me.

FabShop Sale

Are you ready for the FabShop BlowOut Sale??

Lots of shops, lots of deals!

Bundles of bolts...

Here's a question for you fabric lovers out there....

When you go to a fabric shop, let's say a big box store like a Jo-Anns or Hobby Lobby, do you ever fall in love with every stinkin' bolt off the shelf and want to get a quarter yard or half yard of practically everything in the store?

Okay, maybe not every stinkin' bolt. But more than, oh, say, 4.

What do you do? Do you not care and just carry 8 bolts up to the cutting table? Or are you like me and get anxious and think that you're going to look crazy and what about that poor girl who has to re-shelve all these and what about that other woman who might want to see these bolts too and what if you don't have a cart, because then you know you can't possibly carry all these bolts in your arms, and, and, and.....

your head explodes!??!

Does this worry anyone else? Or should I just assume that's what the store is there for and continue on my fabric indulgence spree?

Ack!

I am so aggravated...last week I checked out a couple Fons & Porter Love of Quilting mags from my public library, and I scan/copied some of the patterns I liked. I have a way to scan them as PDFs and save them on my USB stick. It saves each page individually and then I merge them into one big file with CutePDF Pro. Which is easy...if the files are still on your USB stick!!!

This morning I went to work on it and to my dismay, there wasn't a trace of the files on my stick. Bummer. At least I can still check the magazines out of the library in the future...and it wasn't like there was any pattern that I was absolutely in LUV with. But still! Bummer!

And you know what else is a bummer? I took pictures of my two little 9 patch blocks that I sewed last night, and I left my memory card at home on my dresser!

Can I get a do-over this morning?

A real, live, real-life, quilting, blogging friend!

I love when something wonderful and unexpected happens...Like adding an old acquaintance from church onto your Facebook friends...and discovering that she quilts...AND has a blog! She and I were in the same Sunday school class at Clays Mill Road, and it looks like we both started quilting around the same time! How weird, wild, and wonderful is that? It was pretty amusing last night--at the same time I was posting on her wall "Hey! I didn't know you quilt!" she sent me a chat message "I didn't know you quilt!" and we talked for a few minutes.

So while this discovery has me missing my old church and my old friends again, I'm so excited to know someone else who quilts and blogs! She is going to a Bonnie Hunter workshop this weekend--which is just crazy to me, to actually talk to a live person who knows who Bonnie Hunter is. I know, I know, I'm sure someone at my LQS would know who Bonnie is, but I'm just too shy and intimidated to talk to them. I'm too shy and intimidated to join my local guild too, shame on me, I know.

Anyway, other than that bit of excitement to share with you, I don't have much else. I didn't get around to sewing any last night; my husband and I went out soulwinning with our church and by the time we got home and ate I just felt like piddling around online and going to bed. And with church tonight, I probably won't sew again until Thursday night. Here's my ever-growing To Wanna Do List:What's on your list today?

Double Irish Chain

I had a very productive night last night. It must have been that McCafe iced mocha I tried--blech! I am not a coffee drinker, and I discovered that no amount of ice or chocolate can change that...but I had a free coupon, so all was not lost.

Anyway, in about 2 hours I turned this stack of blocks:

Into this:

It is twin size. I have to add a border and then it will be ready to baste and quilt. Just planning to do some grid quilting on this one...still haven't had time to sit down and figure out and play with freemotion quilting. I'm making this one for someone very special as a surprise. I love surprises!

Recess!

A couple weeks ago I was in Louisville with my mom and visited Among Friends for the first time... Great store, lots of moda pre-cuts and a really wide variety of fabrics. The store is bright and really well-arranged. The most amusing part of the store was what I'm calling the "Oh brother, my wife/mother is in a quilt shop...this will take awhile Lounge"--they have a couple couches, children's books and toys, and a television set up for those poor husbands and kids that get dragged along against their will!

Well while I was there, I finally broke down and bought the Recess, Wee Play, and Look and Learn charm packs. I've been looking for these for awhile. (Yes, I know I can order them online, but...I haven't let myself order fabric online yet. That could be a credit card disaster waiting to happen!)

I'm not sure what I'll use them for just yet. Mom is a teacher and I know she loves the ruler fabric ...

And I would love to make a cozy lap quilt for her. Heather recently finished a quilt that has some of these fabrics in it and it looks great.

I didn't get to sew any this weekend because we spent Saturday caulking and sealing our driveway. I was the official caulk-smoother-outter and that stuff is nasty. It's like, really thick toothpaste. Oh, the joys of home ownership.

We also went to Boston Market for lunch. That was GREAT. It was our first time there; I had some coupons from BzzAgent and it was so delicious. Just like a home cooked meal. The prices were reasonable too. Seth called it an "upscale KFC" which... I can see what he means. But KFC doesn't make sweet potato pie like Boston Market does. Yum-E.

Don't...

Start a blog and then buy a house.

It will be months before you settle down enough to start blogging again.

I have some fun quilting projects on the line and will post pix soon. One is a baby quilt for my sister-in-law. I'm not using a pattern, but I'm going off a picture of a pattern cover... We'll see how it turns out... I wanted to create something that used charm packs, and specifically these Peek-a-Boo and Funny Babies charm packs by Amy Bradley for Moda:

Love it! Love it love it love it, so much that I may just have to make two quilts, one to give and one to keep!

I am also finishing the top of a double irish chain quilt that has taken on a life of its own... Why it has taken me 3 months to get this thing pieced is beyond me, especially considering that I used the quick and easy strip piecing method from my Fons & Porter magazine!

Hopefully I will post more often and be a quilting blogger. It's tough when you work full-time though. I have adored so many bloggers and it amazes me how they can quilt, raise children, AND keep up their blogs. I'll have to work on this!!

Yummmmy Part 1

I'd like to share one of my two favorite cookie recipes. I'm probably going to talk a lot, so if you just want to cut to the chase, the full recipe is at the end of the post. But without further ado, I give you:

Aunt Connie's Glazed Oatmeal Cookies.

My Aunt Connie can cook better than anyone else in my family. She does it all. Cooking, baking, sewing, raising a garden, raising chickens, canning, preserving, crafting, creating.... I want to be her when I grow up. (Except for the raising chickens part.) Anyway, the chances are high that she found this recipe from a magazine, newspaper, church cookbook, or flour sack, but it doesn't matter to me. These are HER cookies, and they always will be.

In a large bowl, beat 2 eggs. I'm not certain what difference it makes, but Aunt Connie says 2 eggs, beaten. So beat 'em.

To that, add...are you ready for this? 1 cup of Crisco shortening (don't worry, there's no butter, but we're not done yet...) and 2 cups of light brown sugar, packed. No. That's not a typo. That's TWO cups of brown sugar. Add 1 tsp of vanilla and cream it all together.

While you're creaming, I'll tell you something my Aunt Connie says: Always keep a stick of cream cheese in the fridge, cause you never know when someone might pop in, have surgery, or die. These things make sense to me, because really, you never know when the situation might present itself where you need to whip up a Dessert. And people popping in, people coming home from hospitals and funerals are all good reasons to whip up a Dessert. To her rule, I add: Always keep brown sugar on hand, for the same reason.

Once you get done creaming, it will look like fluffy yumminess. I attribute this to the Crisco, but maybe it's all because we beat the eggs first.

Now you might want to get out a separate bowl to sift these dry ingredients. Aunt Connie probably does. I, in my haste to eat these delicious cookies, just dump it in the bowl, but Aunt Connie was always getting on me for being impatient when I was little. You need 3 cups of oats, 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking soda. Combine these in a separate bowl and slowly add them to the fluffiness, or just gradually add them as you see fit. I won't tell Aunt Connie.

Once it's all good and mixed up, cover your bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for at least an hour.

You really must wait for them to chill. And for the record, I like to use Air Bake cookie sheets lined with parchment paper when I make cookies. I'm not sure if Aunt Connie does that or not, but I know she would approve.

Once the hour has passed, preheat your oven to 350* and get your dough out as well as a small bowl. Pour about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar into the small bowl. This measurement is nowhere near exact. Just don't overdo it or you'll waste sugar. Something Aunt Connie would never do.

Spoon out some dough and roll it (yes, in your hands) into a golf ball size. Roll the ball in the powdered sugar, and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat until your sheets are full. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Amazingly, the powdered sugar has melted into a yummy glaze. Cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack, or just transfer them to your mouth. These are absolutely delicious when warm.

I told you she's a good cook, that Aunt Connie.

Aunt Connie's Glazed Oatmeal Cookies

Yields: 48 cookies

2 eggs, beaten                               3 c oats

1 c Crisco shortening                 1-1/2 c all purpose flour

2 c brown sugar                           1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla                                   1 tsp baking soda

Powdered sugar                           1 tsp salt

In a large bowl, cream eggs, shortening, sugar and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine with oats. Slowly add oat/flour mixture to cream mixture. Mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour. Roll into golf-ball sized balls, roll balls in powdered sugar, covering the dough. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes. Cool on sheet 2-3 minutes, then move to cooling rack.

Boxing match

The current state of our apartment.

Not really.  They’re all nice and neatly stacked now.  This is just what it looked like after I brought the boxes up from my car and threw them wherever.  Don’t be judgin’.  YOU try to carry 18 boxes up 3 flights of steps in the least number of trips possible.  It was definitely a “ahhh-get rid of them-my fingers are about to fall off-I’m so out of shaaaaape” moment. 

But it made for a dramatic photo. 

Isn’t moving grand?

How to make a little ‘mad money’

I mentioned previously about the UPS man bringing a surprise package for a survey and I said I would explain more about what types of programs I do.  Last July or August I signed up with a variety of different survey/mystery shopper websites and, in the end, MySurvey and BzzAgent turned out to be the best.  I really recommend these programs, especially if you have young children.  It seems they are always looking for moms to join!

I have made about $60 from MySurvey since I started last summer.  It’s not much, but it’s just a little something extra.  Each survey earns points and you “cash out” when you have 1000 points, or $10.  Then about 4-6 weeks later, you get a check!  Occasionally their surveys will offer to send you a sample product to test and take another survey on.  I have gotten two of those so far; one for a microwaveable meal and one for laundry detergent. Obviously, the amount of surveys you get varies with your demographics.  If you have a husband, I recommend using his info as your “primary” information because it seems like the men get more surveys.  Probably because there aren’t as many of them signing up for things like this.  

The other program, BzzAgent, isn’t a money maker, but you can get some free stuff to try and some exclusive coupons.  The only drawback to BzzAgent is that the longer you are a member, the better.  I didn’t get anything the first couple of months I was a member and quite frankly thought it was a waste of time, but over time you earn seniority for product campaigns.  They are awarded on a first come-first serve basis, so if you get invited to a campaign, act fast!  Since last summer, I’ve done two programs with them.  One was for Smucker’s Uncrustables, where I received coupons for free boxes and other cents-off coupons to use or share.  The most recent is the Scrubbing Bubbles campaign, where they sent me a free automatic shower cleaner, $5 off starter kit coupons to share, and the toilet gel thing plus more coupons. 

I’ll share more coupon and product sample resources next week!

The Internet’s Just Crazy Like That…

Sometimes I read blogs and I get lost in BlogLand.  Before I know what’s happened, I’ve added 5 more feeds to my Google Reader.  Those feeds multiply like rabbits, let me tell you. 

When I discovered the world of quilting bloggers, I think it started with Crazy Mom.  I’m not sure how I ended up there, but I think it had something to do with her free motion tutorial.  Then she mentioned someone, who mentioned someone, that ultimately created that ginormous list over there –> on the Blogs I Read list. 

Today I found another, Taylor, by way of A Quilt is Nice.  (See what I’m doing?  I’m secretly making YOUR feed-reader multiply like rabbits…shhh…)  Oh the places you can go. 

Here are just two more things I’m enjoying today--

Rachel Cox has posted some pictures of quilts made for the Mountain Baby Blanket project and I am in LUV with this one:And How About Orange linked to Smashing Magazine’s March wallpaper post. This is now on my desktop:

 

I just love that little bird.

Except the Lord build the house...

Photo from freshome.com - Upside-Down House in Poland

We have been house hunting for almost 18 months. I'm not kidding. It has been an emotional rollercoaster.

We almost bought a house in January. My first word of advice? Get a home inspection. It's well worth the $400 or whatever the going rate is in your area. You'll see that house in a whole new light. You might even decide to cancel. We drew the line when the inspector strongly recommended a structural engineer. On brand new construction.

Making the decision to plunk down an offer the first time was nerve-wracking. Getting burned and having to start the process all over again was depressing. It was confusing, too.

See, we had prayed about the first house for several weeks and the whole time it seemed God was pointing us to buy it. We loved the house and its location. We were able to negotiate a great price, and would be left with only one month to go on our apartment lease after closing day. It really felt as though God was holding out his hand and saying "here, here's your house." So when the red flags started popping up with the home inspection, we were scared--was this a test? Should we have faith and go through with it anyway? The bottom line however, was that we didn't have any peace about the home until we cancelled and our earnest money was returned.

A few weeks ago we started praying again that things would be clear--where should we live? Should we buy a house or not? Should we not even look in this area? Did God have plans to move us further away?

And then this other house came along.

Just what we wanted. New construction, great floor plan, incredibly reputable builder. And without any fanfare or big displays of greatness, God has quietly moved and caused this purchase to go so smooth and so seamless. We're getting an even better home than the first one. We close in about 21 days and our apartment lease is up March 31st. No overlap. And now it really does feel like he's whispered "Here's your house. I told you I'd take care of it." God does everything perfectly in his own time. Just wait on the Lord!

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phillippians 4:19

More...

Here are a few more pictures....

Toss it up and make...


Quilt Salad!

The strips coming together...

This weekend...

Well, I'm fighting with Flickr. I'm about to break up with him, but this post is managing to work out okay, so, I'll go easy on him for now.

Anyway, this is what I worked on Saturday morning. I LOVE L-U-V this pattern and I L-U-V strip piecing. I put together all of the large strip sets and cut them into 2.5" substrips. It took about 2.5 hours to sew the 7 large sets and cut them into subsets. If you can't tell, the solid yellow is my accent color. Now the fun part will be randomly picking up strips and sewing them together.

Did I mention I L-U-V strip piecing? And this fabric? And pretty much everything about this quilt that I think my head is going to pop when I get it all finished?!

And I need to take more pictures!

Flickr hate

I hate flickr.

I hate that I used to be so good at coding html/css junk and now I feel like I've totally lost my touch.

I just want to get it right.

Arrrrrggggghhhhhhhh.

Strip Piecing!

Aunt Grace jelly roll

I am so excited to start my next quilt. I'm using the Cozy Quilt Strip Club pattern Stepping Stones and a sweet Aunt Grace jelly roll I got at my local quilt shop. Strip piecing is SO fast and SO easy, it's a great way to start quilting. The buttercup yellow will be the solid accent color in the middle of the strip sets.

Quilt shop excursions

Tuesday I had to take a trip to Lexington and decided to stop at some new quilt shops on my way...

The first shop I visited was The Quilt Box in Dry Ridge. What a treat! The first thing I noticed was a their selection of notions--if you can imagine a ruler for something, they had it. There was literally half a wall full of just square rulers! Patterns were hanging from every pillar and wall and they had a very nice variety. There was also a good variety of Civil War fabrics and not a half-bad assortment of 30's prints! (I have a special fondness for 1930-1940s prints.) My favorite part of the store was the large half-barrel full of "candies"--25 cents for a 9"x9" square! I picked up a couple yardages and 12 candies.

Several miles down the road and back in my favorite town, I stopped at The Quilter's Square. If you visit, I must warn you--you are immediately greeted with a Bernina 830! (For those not familiar, it's like the Rolls Royce of sewing machines. It practically sews by itself.) I registered to win one, since a free handout is the only way I'll ever own one of those puppies, so here's to hoping! This shop was great, too, and is also great for machine embroidery fanatics. I ended up with two store-made charm packs of some 30s prints (about 80-5" squares of different fabrics) and another "candy" that I couldn't pass up--it has band-aids and Rx bottles on it.

I also stopped at The Corner Quilt Shop. Now, I have to admit, this wasn't my favorite shop of the day, because it was a little small. But they did have some Moda jelly rolls and charm packs that I so desperately wanted, but alas, I had spent my fabric budget. (I shouldn't have even gone in the place because of that fact but I just had to check it out!)

And then the UPS guy came...

Unexpected packages are always the best.

Especially when it turns out to be a free product sample to test. I can't disclose what this one is (yet) but I am SUPER excited.

This has been a fun month for product testing. Last week I got a Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner to test as well as their new Toilet Cleaning Gel discs. I love the toilet cleaner because it doesn't just hang there; you can actually tell the water is whoooshing over it and cleaning. Plus whenever it's done (which it's not yet, but whenever it's done...) I don't have to touch it and take it out (ewwww gross).

I do two different survey/product testing programs, MySurvey and BzzAgent. I started last July and have made about $50 and tested about 4 products.

Phi Kappa Blogga, anyone?

I am hesitantly stepping into the blogging world. I have no clue what this will become, and it's a little intimidating! It takes a lot of chutzpah to say "Hello, world, you have no idea who I am but I think you want to hear what I'm going to say."

In one way I feel like I'm rushing some sorority. (Phi Kappa Blogga, anyone?) There are so many women bloggers out there who I am just amazed at. There are some incredibly creative quilters and crafters; some very frugal gals; and some inspiring moms. On one hand I feel like I'll never be quite up to their level, but on the other hand, it shouldn't be about comparisons. It's just journaling what I do and how I do it and sharing it with whoever might be interested.

I just hope someone is interested.

First, I should explain my title--I wanted something short and catchy that would also tell who I am. (After all, I'm Natalie.) My mom is always saying "That Natalie...she's something else" or "That Natalie, I tell you what..." whenever I do something she thinks is amazing. I could write forever about my mom and how important she is to me, so, maybe later. But it was available so, what the hey.

I am a 20-something newlywed...I quilt...I coupon...I work full-time, which is starting to become a nuisance when all I want to do is home-ec things, but we like the paycheck....I like to cook but not as much as I did before I got married, how did that happen?...we don't have kids yet and probably won't start trying for another 18 months or so...I love to read...I'm an "independent" Baptist, which adds a whole meaning and side to my life that would take several posts to explain...

And the chances are high that I'll be blogging about any and all of the above while I figure this out. I don't want to be just a "quilt" blog or a "coupon" blog or a "I write for therapy because my life is crazy" blog. I don't want to peg myself down just yet. We'll see what develops.