words to live by in 2011...

"Make what you want to make, 

and make it the way you want to make it." 

Gwen Marston

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, 

you will find him if you seek Him 

with all your heart and with all your soul. 

Deut 4:29

mantle love.

we are still waiting to hear from the realtor...

so i thought i would distract myself with a totally unrelated blog post...

did you know...we take down our Christmas goodies on the day after Christmas.  I am always so ready to get my house back...to set my focus on spring and forge ahead into the new year with a fresh, clean house.  

here is my new mantle...a la etsy. 

frame prints are from box64 studios...a Christmas gift from my SIL.

hokies sign from go jump in the lake.

pray sign, that i ADORE, is from burley girl designs.

bunting by me.

clock from target ages ago.

jar of shells from Boca.  a place we just bought our tickets to...*swoon*.

paint color is crystal aqua from valspar...someone always asks. :) 

have you started your post holiday decorating?  do show and tell.

pins and needles.

so.  the realtor had great things to say about our house.  there were times where he was SPEECHLESS about how organized we i am.  he didn't have many things he wanted us to change.  he suggested to touch up paint here or there and paint moses' room.  all things we were going to do anyway.  

he loved our paint colors.  suggested we leave up some family photos and continue our de-cluttering.

and the pins and needles part. 

he is supposed to call or email us by Friday to give us the number that we could/should list our house at.  we are praying for either a number that we are *very* comfortable with...or one so terrible that we know God wants us to stay put.  this is how we are leaving it in His hands.  we have done all we can do and now we are waiting for God's will to be done. 

and while i am anxious to know what the realtor says...i am completely at peace about not having control over the situation.  and now we wait to see what God's plan is.  

will you pray for us?  

*my* desire is to sell at a number nice enough and have something extra to tuck away.  

and there are some really cute rental homes that are directly behind where Doug works. 

just saying...

:) 

input please.

some thoughts are spending a lot of time in my head. 

num. 1:

we are meeting with a realtor tomorrow to discuss putting our house on the market to sell.  we are hoping and praying for a successful sale and to find a bigger, and cheaper, place to rent to increase our flexibility in the future for job stuff for Doug.

1. will you pray for us? 

2.  do you have any really great hints about selling a house?  anything to avoid?

num. 2:

i am thinking A LOT about what i want my business to look like in 2011.  i am continually blown away and grateful that i am able to do what i love (sew) while i do what i love (be with my kids).  for the first time ever i am thinking long and hard about "opening the doors" again.  do i really want to? do i need to? can i while i am selling this house where the dining room IS my craft room? 

any thoughts on that?   

and num. 3:

be sure to head over to enter to win $100.  i mean..it's one hundred dollars.  who can't use that?  and from THIS PAGE you can get to the page where you can enter to win on other blogher blogs. :)

doug's gift.

somehow...and i still can't believe that i was able to do it...i both completed a gigantic quilt in time to give doug for Christmas AND he had no idea it was coming!!  it was hard to keep secret...i had to work early in the morning and late into the nights sometimes.  sometimes working super sick...but knowing i had to utilize every moment i had that doug wasn't around.

 i was sure to cover my tracks well...throwing away scraps and hiding the quilt in progress deep in the depths of my messy craft closet. 

 All the fabrics from the front and binding are from etsy and hawthornethreads.com.  for the back i used a queen sized sheet...using the sheet saved me about 50% in cost. :)

 i basically cut all my fabrics into varying widths of strips...and sewed them all together...and cut the strips in thirds...then mixed them up and off set them for a wonky bar code type of pattern. 

i made it all up as i went.

 to quilt it i just did wide parallel lines.  i wanted to keep it simple because i thought it went best with the quilt and i really didn't have time to do an intricate quilting pattern.

 and as doug requested, there is a cozy, fuzzy, 30in foot pocket at the bottom.  i attached it to the quilt before i did the binding and then binded it right on. 

 i can't tell you how happy it makes me to have really surprised him!  he swears he had no idea but i just cant believe i pulled it off.

having surprised him with something that he really loves...is the best gift that i think i have ever gotten. :)