One Monthly Goal

My #onemonthlygoal is to turn my starter pile of fabrics for a very special project into the four center squares. This involves qst, hst and squares. @elmstreetquilts #do2020

January OMG Finish

Well, I finally did it!  Yes, Samantha's Trek Quilt is finished!!!

June Madness

So, last month I had a couple of fun distractions ...

After the Pulse shooting, one of my Facebook groups got together to make heart blocks.  Diane Bohn designed the Love is Made of Hearts quilt and gave it for free ... more work that I would usually put in, but it was a great experience.

2015

Happy New Year everyone!  Here is my final ALOYF posting.  This past year was productive for me.

May ALOYF Finish

It's done!  I really can't convey what a truly frustrating experience this dress has been.  Once I got through the straps (which took over a week of fretting and un-sewing and re-sewing ...) I thought I'd be home scott free ...

S.W.A.K.: Reflections on 2012

This year has been a hard year.  But as 2012 comes to a close, I wanted to look back at all I've been able to accomplish.  There have been many drafts of this post, but as saw the awesome collages on some of my favorite blogs, I had to one of my own :)  This post is a bit long, but have fun!

(1.  Mosaic Mini, 2.  Valentine's Day Table Topper with Sarah, 3.  Baby quilt for Jen & Family, 4.  RWB Blog Hop, 5.  Starburst blocks for Stash Bee, 6.  Samantha in SF, 7.  Nicholas, 8.  Chemo caps, 9.  One of my bulletin boards--I love the reverse silhouettes!, 10.  Sarah, 11. Me in SF, 12.  Ruffle Quilt Squares, 13.  the 30-miler, 14. My center block for Quilt U Be Mine, 15.  Heirloom necklace remake for Jenell, 16. Holiday Lane Blog Hop.)

In collecting these pics, I realized how truly blessed I am.  I had more pictures that I wanted to include, but this is a good sampling of me.

 My year started off with finally making my blog public.  That was a huge accomplishment for me.  I wanted everything just so and it took me weeks to learn how to do the backgrounds and do all the little design elements.  The direction that it's taken is a little of a surprise for me, but I'm enjoying it.  Hopefully in the coming year I'll be able to return to the more diverse ideas I had in the beginning.  I want to do more with general ideas and a family tracking/history.  I love my sewing and feel like I've truly found my creative outlet there, but I want to include more of the things I love and love to do.  There is so much more to me and my family than my sewing and quilting :)

Just days after I made my blog public, my oldest came down with an intractable headache that has since been diagnosed as New Daily Persistent Headache.  NDPH is a chronic condition that has taught me more about empathy, patience and compassion than I could have ever imagined.  Helping a 15-year-old struggle with chronic pain is a heart-wrenching, soul-stretching journey.  Just last week, we finished 3 days of injections--her fifth attempt to break the headaches.  As we enter the new year, I fervently pray that we find answers for her and her life can re-normalize.

Just after Sam's first hospitalization, my husband was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  He's had pain on and off for several years, but it finally became bad enough that it could no longer be ignored.  When they did the blood test, they started his treatments immediately.  His treatment is low-dose chemotherapy that he takes orally once a week.  The side effects seem to have leveled-off over time, but he is still wiped out for 2 to 3 days each week.  I'm amazed by his strength and perseverance.

Our other two kids are adjusting to the new normal.  They've both had amazing achievements of their own.  Nicholas turned twelve and is progressing well in Scouts.  He loves campouts and archery and is adjusting (slowly) to life in middle school.  Sarah is our social butterfly and World of Warcraft aficionado.  She loves playing with Rhett's guild.  Both of these guys tested for TAG earlier this year and are learning to play chess through one of the enrichment programs.

Because of my blog, I have been able to do many new things this year that I could only have imagined previously ...  First and foremost, I learned how to quilt.  While I am far from expert, I have become quite adept at matching points and creating projects (not to mention picking out stitches & seams.)  I also joined an online quilting bee--the Stash Bee--and am challenged each month to stretch my skills and color theory.  I participated in two blog hops, one fabric swap, and three quilt alongs.  I learned that I don't always need a pattern.  I learned that the online community is so fascinating as well as supportive.  I've won several prizes for making comments and participating in other online events and am amazed at the talent and quality I have been able to learn from.

There are many aspects of my every day life that are not shared here.  For one, I am an avid volunteer.  Most of my love and energy are spent working with the Young Women's organization in our church.  I love teaching, organizing activities and doing things with them and for them.  I also volunteer in several capacities at my kids' schools.  I discovered a love of bulletin boards and hallway decor.  My favorite place to be is in the classrooms and libraries, so I hope to get back to that, too.  In addition to volunteering I enjoy the outdoors.  This year I went on a 30-mile hike with the YW and it reminded me how much I enjoy hiking and camping.  I certainly live in an ideal location so near to so many natural resources; I need to take more advantage of that.  I also have other hobbies that I dabble in from time to time.  I enjoy crochet, toll painting, reading and baking.  Hopefully, I'll be able to squeeze more of these into the coming year, too.

Looking back, I know that I am so blessed.  Rhett teases me about using that term too freely--but I really feel like I am.  My kids are older and pretty self-sufficient so I can take a break when I need to and and not worry about everything falling apart before I return.  Rhett works hard to provide the necessities in life and I have a job that allows him to be home when I'm not.  I have a great relationships with my immediate family as well as our extended families even though they're far, far away.  I could go on and on.

Thank you for being part of my journey in 2012--I hope to see a lot more in 2013!

Quilt U Be Mine--December

Yesterday I finished my work on the round robin for December. I love seeing everyone else's work!

This one really stretched my ability to "see" the next step.  Since it's a secret until February, here are a couple of sneak peaks :)

       

Rachelle asked for a signature block, so here's mine:

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is looking forward to another long weekend celebrating the new year.  I, for one, can't wait.  I'm off today for the start of another round of treatment for Samantha.  Wish us some luck that this will do the trick!

Goadsby's Magical Receptors

*Let me start this post off with a disclaimer:  I am NOT in any way, shape or form a medical expert (or even a scientist.)  Everything in this post is based on my interpretation of what has been told to us by our magnificent team of doctors.*

She looked up just as I clicked ... oh, well

As many of you know, my oldest daughter, Samantha, has been suffering from a debilitating headache since January 3, 2012.  Her official diagnosis is NDPH (see this post for more details.)  She continues to be unresponsive to treatments, so last week we got to travel down to San Francisco for another course of DHE treatment--this time with her specialists at the UCSF Headache Clinic.

Things went well.  She reached the target dosage of the DHE (dihydroergotamine) and with a little experimentation, was not nauseous for most of that.  The doctors were concerned with that because nausea is an indicator as to the efficacy of the treatment--basically the more nauseous you are the less effective the treatment is.  Her "drug of choice" (boy that sounds bad) was a combination of Domperidone (the non-alcoholic distant cousin ...) and Kytril--not for everyone, but worked wonders for Samantha.  We had an amazing team of doctors working with us--headed by the two doctors at the headache clinic.  The intern assigned to her, Dr. Chan, was amazing!  She is a first year intern focusing on Pediatrics, but she was so good for Samantha.  She has an amazing fashion sense that caught our attention right away, and when Samantha was having difficulty seeing things through, she was able to talk her through it.

Without going into too much detail, Sam and I agreed that "Goadsby's magical receptors" was the phrase of the week.  I heard Dr. Goadsby himself talking about them with the other doctors using thousand-dollar words that I couldn't possibly hope to repeat, but one of the Neuro-interns dumbed it down for us with that phrase.  Basically they are the neurotransmitters in our brains that act as pain receptors.  Sam's are misfiring and not responding to treatments thus far.  Sooo, the DHE molecules are supposed to connect themselves to these receptors to confuse them into letting other meds through to the brain and therefore break the headache.  Very oversimplified, I'm sure, but that's how I understand it.

So now we wait.  Again.

Adagio: Ritardando (rit.)

After the last couple of weeks I am so ready for a little slowing down.  I loved my hike and have survived San Francisco, but I am so ready to get back into the around-the-house routine and just get stuff done.  I missed my sewing machine and I certainly didn't get much housework done--thank goodness for Grandma while I was gone :)

Samantha and I met with the doctors at the UCSF Headache Center on Tuesday and Wednesday.  They basically confirmed her diagnosis of New Daily Persistent Headache (NDPH) with one caveat--there are two "types" of that diagnosis and she has the migranous variety.  Basically her constant headahes mimic migraines in a couple of ways, but aren't really migraines.  But we already knew all that ...  On Wednesday, she received a shot of lidocane and steroid into her left occipital nerve.  That can take 7 to 10 days to feel any positive effect and works for 2 out of 3 patients.  In the meantime, we're fervently praying for her to start feeling some of that relief.

We did get a little bit of sightseeing in between doctors visits, public transportation and the 9-hour drive each way, so here is a sampling of some of the relaxing we did:

 
Finally, I signed up to do another quilt along a few weeks ago and it started while I was in SF.  I woke up early today to work on week one and here it is.  I'm grateful it came together so quickly since I have so much else to do :)  If you're interested, check it out by clicking on the link on my sidebar or at http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/2012/07/tetris-quilt-long-week-1.html.

Have a wonderful weekend!



S.W.A.K.: I'm ho-ome ...

I spent the majority of this week hiking along the McKenzie River.  I haven't done anything like this in years and I had a super fun experience!  I served as a back-up adult for the just-in-case scenario.  My original plan was to stay at camp each day, but I ended up hiking about half of the 23 miles that the others completed.  We started up at the trail head above Fish Lake Creek on Tuesday (July 10th) and ended down by the Hot Springs on Friday (July 13).

http://mckenzierivertrail.com/mckenzie-river-trail-map-

The first day I was driving down and hiking up to meet the group at a couple of different points. I figure I probably hiked about 3 miles or so.  I got to see beautiful Clear Lake and Sahalie Falls.  Unfortunately it was too much for Sam and I ended up driving her home that night.  I drove back early on day two and hiked the whole day with the group after settling into the campsite we were headed to that evening.  Thank goodness for two cars!  It allowed me to store some gear and also for us to have one car at each end of that day's leg of the trail.  We hiked from Ice Cap to Trail Bridge which is 5 to 5-1/2 miles.  It was 3/4 of a mile just from the trail down to the campground.  The next day I hiked about 3/4 of a mile down before I had to go back up to my car at the top of where we started due to serious blisters.  I got the spend the day at Olallie camp with two of our YW.  They were totally bummed not to be hiking but we had a good time playing card games and exploring right along the river.  That last day most of our group packed up to go home, but one of our super-leaders wanted to do another leg, so three of us packed up and hiked from Olallie down to the Belknap Hot Springs which added another 5 miles to the total.  Even though I only walked that one day with my full pack, I ended up with about 14 miles under my belt.  I'm so proud of all of us!

It was amazing to me how much a backpack can really slow things down.  What would normally be for me a couple of hours on a day hike became a day-long ordeal with a couple of longer stops to take the pack off and rest, eat and filter more water. The trails are very well maintained and shared by hikers, campers and trail bikers.

Really, there was NO reception!  We couldn't check in at home in the evenings.  We relied on prayers for our loved ones back home.

 Each day along the trail was so very different.  We had everything from lava fields to lush, Jurassic-looking water inlets.  So much of the water was clear and inviting ... even if it was FREEZING.  I've never drunk straight from a river before.  What a treat to have fresh-filtered water.  That's the life!

 We have a very small YW group with awesome, supportive leaders who rearrange thier lives to let us have amazing activities like this.  We started with three girls and five leaders and had quite a range of experience represented.  Our priesthood leaders would shake thier heads at us in the evenings ... table cloths and green salads apparently are not roughing it enough :)

I didn't get too many pictures because Sam had our camera on the first day and she used up almost all of the battery, but here are some that we had (she took most of these posted here--THANKS!)  I am so grateful to live so close to several wilderness areas and be able to bask in nature's beauties.  I had some amazing time to reflect and meditate and recharge my spiritual energy.

Hope your week was as awesome as mine has been!  Next week I'll be out of it again since its finally time to drive down to San Francisco for Sam's specialist appointments.  Hopefully we'll have some time to have fun and take more awesome pics of that trip.

May-day! May-day!

Well, today's another first.  Not like a milestone or anything, just, you know, a starting-again day.  I can't even really say starting over.  I just don't want to even go there.  We used to say to Sam every night, "Tomorrow's a new day."  She loved hearing that she could start over with no old problems keeping her down.  I like remembering that right about now :)

Thinking about today, I have some fun memories of May Day.  Growing up my next-door neighbor's birthday was today, so it was always anticipated at least for that reason.  Several years ago, I was sitting in my relatively new home and heard a knock on the door.  Of course the kids beat me to the door and there was a  lovely May Day posie waiting for us.  We ran out to the curb and caught some dear friends sneaking up on another neighbor's front door.  Sorry we ruined the surprise, guys.  That really brightened our day and gave my kids inspiration for the next few years.  They love to pick some bluebells that are plentiful in our yard right now and secretly deliver them.

This morning has been spent playing catch-up.  The man-cave was dismantled last night and Samantha moved into the upstairs loft area.  Now there are several piles of papers and old electronic components scattered around downstairs waiting to find a new home (hopefully not in ours :)  I got caught up on laundry that had piled around in various states of done-ness during the chaos of Sam's hospital stay.  Rhett and I went into the marble company this morning and officially gave them the go-ahead to make our shower!!  That'll be installed and completed in early June.  I'm so excited.  After that, the only thing left on our master bath is the re-vamping of the sink and vanity area.  I've got big ideas, but, well, let's not quite go there yet either.

I've also picked up a couple of sewing projects again.  I sandwiched a table topper this morning that's been calling to me.  I'll try to quilt that this evening.  I folded up Sam's quilt for now--until I can take a FMQ class and figure out what is up with the wrong-side tension and how to fix it.  I'm also plotting a scrappy crochet blanket project or two that will probably be donated.  Mom sent me a rather large box of old yarn from their basement fix-up project.  I'm very excited to see what I come up with.  I'm seeing a lot of shades of red and blue--maybe a patriotic ombre theme??  I also signed up for a patriotic blog hop for the 1st week in July.  I'll be designing a red-white-and-blue quilt square to share.  I'm already having fun with this one!

S.W.A.K.: Here's to More ... of the GOOD stuff

I think I can characterize this week as a smoothing out week.  Still have ups and downs, but a couple of things seems to have fallen into some kind of rhythm.  Now I just need to learn the steps and go with it ...

Samantha officially started a 2-period school day.  She continues to be in great pain most of the time.  Everything she was missing at school was so overwhelming, plus she's having more difficulty with focusing and short-term memory.  I can only imagine the incessant foggy feeling.  Anyway, hopefully this will help her focus some and relieve some of that stress.  She had her 3rd MRI come up normal again.  This time it was focusing on her neck and shoulder area.  Very frustrating.  We're ready for answers, or better yet, a miracle.

Sarah and Nicholas had their second TAG group meeting at school this week and they're excited about their respective projects.  Nicholas is learning about cryptography and DaVinci's mirror code and Sarah is working on a nature diary.  She and her friend are re-binding a couple of blank books, then will be going on excursions to press flowers, do rubbings and collect all kinds of as-yet-unknown goodies.  I'm so proud to see the initiative they're taking.

Here's a couple pics of Nicholas.  One of the things my mom sent me in her care packages was a pair of my dad's old (dare I say vintage) Boy Scout pants.  They're a touch too short, but otherwise fit great.  (Out that hem comes this week--wonder how it'll look after so many years ...)  I liked the pocket detailing--sure don't see that anymore.  He was so proud to put them on and go.

 

 I'm spending a good portion of today with Nicholas and his Battle of the Books team, The Medieval Rattlesnakes, at the regional battle.  They came in first in the school-wide competition and now they get to compete with the other elementary schools in the area.  He's nervous and excited--I guess I am, too.

I threw in a couple of last- minute projects this week, so other things got pushed back.  Sarah had a birthday party tonight so I made a little wallet for a gift card.  It turned out really cute--and it was fast (http://craftycupboard.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-business-card-holder.html).  Definitely a quick keeper.  I also made a small pair of drapes for one of Rhett's friends at work.  Long story short, he shared a story with me about how he made some crack about covering up a small peep-hole window with cardboard.  I looked at him and said, "I can do better than that!"  Four hours later, I was putting the finishing touches on the "cardboard".  Don't have pictures, but it wasn't anything complicated.  Just two 30" square panels with casing for a tension rod and matching ties.  The fabric was sweet, though--I'll definitely have to use the scraps--maybe for some gift card wallets ...

S.W.A.K.: On a Sorta Snowy Saturday ...

This morning I was awaken by my husband's excitement over the big flakes of snow that were really coming down ... since then it's snowed twice more, the sun came out long enough to cause serious meltyness and now it's raining, really raining.  I guess that's about how this week has gone, too. If you don't like things right now, just wait a few minutes ...

President's Day on Monday was a fun family everybody's home day.  Well, I can wear rose colored glasses in retrospect, right?

This week I primed, textured and painted our new bathroom walls.  Today we're replacing the toilet and sink fixtures.  That still makes us only about halfway done.  Next the shower comes out and we do the walls and door frame while we try to decide how to replace the shower.  I have my own definite wish--cultured marble--but we'll see what we end up with.  I'd also love one of those "open" showers with no doors to scrub and collect mold, but again, who knows ...

Samantha had the usual smattering of appointments ... six to be exact.  Still no change and 7-1/2 weeks into this with no explanation or relief.  She's so done.  She just wants to be NORMAL.  Next week she will officially move to a medically-necessary shortened school day.  We're working out the details on that still, but as soon as we do, that'll be a whole new chapter is our educational adventures.

I started helping Nicholas's class with the pancake dolls that I cut out over Winter Break.  I need to get on top of mine so I can post a tutorial with pictures.  I really admire his teacher for taking on a project of this magnitude.  So little of this type of project is done nowadays and it is so good for the children to move a bit out of their comfort zone and learn new skills--it's only running stitches after all.  It kinda hit home for me when I realized I was teaching the kids the exact same stitch I'm using to draw the pictures on the Rocky Ridge quilt.

I had hoped to be going up to the Portland Temple today with Samantha, but we couldn't schedule a time for baptisms.  Working with her this week to get some names ready for the work reminded me how much I enjoy family history work when I take the time.  Does anyone have any suggestions about how to organize all that information?  Most of what it looks like I need to work on for a while is "reconciling" conflicting records in the Family Search system.  But that also means tracking down original records and other family information.  So many projects, so little time...

S.W.A.K.: Whew!

Rhett worked through three weekends in January, so he took some extra time off this week.  He spent most of his time working on our bathroom.  In this process, I found out that putting up the walls is not so bad, neither is taping and spackling—it’s the sanding that’s killer.  Plaster dust everywhere!  It is so fine and hard to clean up—blech!  He also re-organized the living room so he can host a WOWarcraft party tonight and baked five, yes 5, pies (and one cake)!  (Oh, and for those of you wondering, yes, these pics were taken on the morning of the 14th--the romance never ends ...)

Adagio: Slowing Down

This week went by at about a hundred miles per hour.  Doctor’s appointments, no school Friday, phone calls to straighten out health and homeowners insurance, bathroom demolition, and my once-peaceful bedroom and craft corner piled high with displaced vanity storage.   Falling into bed each evening, I longed to slow down tomorrow and get more done.  Hah!

S.W.A.K.: What a week!

This week has been notable for me in many ways.  I’m used to being a SAHM, my choice and I cherish it.  It’s not too often where it is so glaringly obvious that if I did work then I wouldn’t be able to do it all.  Samantha went to three different doctors this week.  We got new insurance at the beginning of the year, and this proved to be an added challenge.

Adagio: Tender Mercies

I’m so excited to be starting a new week!  Last week was, well, kind of hectic.  Samantha did manage to get all of her make-up work turned in (barely), so tomorrow starts a fresh new semester for her.  Nicholas traversed the “game of life” {field trip} and half a week of subs.  Sarah managed to get an ear infection, but even that only managed to slow her down for about 3 hours before the meds kicked in.  Sometimes, I’m not sure how much I appreciate modern medicine :)  Rhett bought the sheet rock for our bathroom, so the next round begins … 

Adagio

I first encountered the word when I was taking piano lessons as a youngster.  Just another one of those foreign words that I had to remember to interpret as I played.  Who knew that playing the piano included learning a new language too.  Well, NOW I know :)  ANYWAY, I love the feel of the word as I think about what it means, as I play a nice slow piece or even just say the word aah-dah-jee-o.  Just the slow roll off my tongue bids me to slow down, take a deep breath, release and relax.