F - Alphabet Wednesday

It's Alphabet Wednesday at Mrs. Nesbitt's place~ this week features the letter F.

I have some good fotos for F ! I thought and thought all week about the letter F and suddenly there was an abundance of F in my life.

First was the Feather - it came from my down jacket. I stopped to wonder what Fowl had lived the short life to give me some feathers and where did it live?

next were the Flowers 'G' gave me for Valentines day. They are still Fresh ! even 2 weeks later!

Then I wanted to show off my kitchen Floor! it's so clean! doesn't happen as often as I would like.

THEN, to top it all off, the candle I had lit while working had FOUR Flames !!!SO MUCH FUN.

PLUS, if you take a look at yesterday's post. I was sewing a FLOWER !

Numbers and behinds

I'm getting a big behind !! --- er -- I meant I'm getting a bit behind!! We are already in the 8th week of the year and I've only read 6 books of my 52 book challenge. I have been playing a bit too much, having a lot of fun. There's bit some sewing....

and some beading ...

but definitely not enough reading.

There's been a lot of snowing lately too.

All that being said, back to my freudian slip. I haven't exercised since I was sick at the beginning of the year. I'm nearing slothdom. My exercise angel is crushing me with guilt. So I'm setting up a new challenge for myself. On March 1, we will have 3 more months - 12 little weeks until we hit June and warm summer days. I don't want to be feeling like a sloth then like I'm feeling now. So I'll have 12 weeks to lose 1 lb a week, to exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY. There'll be some strength training, some yoga, and lots of aerobics. something every day- even means just some push ups and sits ups. Last fall I followed this regimen and I felt sooooo good. it worked then, I've got to get back to it again. ok, enough droning !

Paths we take

Which path will you take today ? The quiet, serene one? Taking time to relax and be peaceful. Working on a hobby, baking, reading ? The busy, chaotice one? Full of family, friends and fun or shopping among the crowds.



How about taking a path you haven't tried yet. Search for one you haven't seen before - try a new path.














Take a chance. Get involved with life - even if it's just walking by yourself. Stop and smell the flowers - oh, the empty branches and new fallen snow then.














There are many new paths to take - look again you might have missed it. If you don't like it, at least you tried. Who knows..... you just might have fun.

Another great gift and ...being tagged.

Today I received a beautiful set of handmade earrings that I won in the One World One Heart Giveaway! Amanda at GoddessVessel drew my name and let me pick. I chose these. My camera does not do them justice. They're beautiful. Thank you Amanda.

ok, I've been tagged by Pam Bennett at Wild Sage Lampwork and she left me these rules - I had to laugh while reading them because she added a 'sorry' to the tag.

Guess what... Tag! Your it! (sorry)Here’s the rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I have an orange belt in Tai Kwon Do. I stopped at orange - any higher and you get sparring partners that hit back!
2. I've lived in Denver, CO and Alexandria, VA and a few suburbs of Cleveland, OH
3. My family came from Sicily, my sister was born there. I was the first sibling born in the USA.
4. I love to run. I'm not very fast but I managed to win 3rd place for my age group 3 yrs ago.
5. I have one beautiful daughter and I'm hoping she'll give me lots of grandbabies!
6. I used to bartend in Denver and was Bartender of the month for a local paper once.
7. I will win the mega-millions super-lotto.

Here are the 7 people I'm tagging: (I've had a very tough time with this - I feel guilty tagging, I hope they aren't too upset with me when I tag them.) I don't usually do chain mails. I'm always the one where they fall apart.
1. Dunesza
2. Grace Beading
3. Ravenhill
4. Strands of Thought
5. The Old Painted Cottage
6. From My Cherry Heart
7. Bella-Enchanted

Alphabet Wednesday

It's Alphabet Wednesday at Mrs's Nesbitt's place. Today is the letter "E". This is my entry for E. E is for Exit. Don't miss it or you'll be off on an adventure of the unknown. And I speak from experience.

Lots of surprises!

What a great day for surprises. It started with the mail. I received 2 surprises. Back in January I had won the book "I capture the castle" from Julie at Celtic Woman. Plus Julie made the surprise extra special by sending a bookmark with a 'TEAPOT' along. thanks Julie, I even have a teapot collection! very fun.

I also received my first prize from the One World One Heart giveaway. This was from Pamela at QuiltsnMore. It's a beautiful quilted fabric, feathery bookmark in this gorgeous blue with silver circles. I just love bookmarks - I've joined 4 reading challenges this year, so I'll be putting them to good use. They are well loved. thank you Pamela.

Then Sandra from ThistleCoveFarm left a comment that I won a bookmark from her from the One World One Heart giveaway! I am so glad I challenged myself to read 52 books this year. I think it triggered all the book type gifts I've won!!! what fantastic luck! Thank you Sandra!

In the beginning...

My fascination and passion with beads started here almost 6 years ago. Aabout 6 years ago, we were coming home from Nags Head beachweek when my car broke down on the highway. While my car was being worked on I got to spend an extra 2 days with my sis. She took me to a Beadazzeled at Tyson's Corner and I haven't stopped buying beads since. :) We went on a road trip this weekend to visit my sister and family. My niece has a beautiful new baby boy! We had such a wonderful visit! So, since I was in the neighborhood, we went shopping again at Tyson's Corners and I stopped into Beadazzled again to see where it all began. I still love beading and wish I had time to bead more often. It's a wonderful hobby.

I've been tagged by Mollye at Pajama's, Playmates and Breadpuddin to reveal 7 'What ifs' about myself. I just got home about an hour ago after a 7 hr drive back home from Virginia. I need a bit of time to think about that, so I'll post my 7 what if's tomorrow.

And the Winners are .......

First let me explain the process. I ended up with 200 different names so I printed them all out and cut them into little strips. Then I put them in my cookie jar. Since my 'G' loves putting his hand in the cookie jar, he volunteered to dip his hand in one more time for the drawing. So first he mixed up all the names - real good -

Then I waived my magic wand over all the names....

Then the hand goes back INTO the cookie jar for a lucky name.....

and the lucky winner IS........

CONGRATULATIONS KATHY of KATHY's QUILTS !!! You have won my first set of goodies, the pink giveaway!

As I mentioned in my earlier message, the second giveaway I will use a random number generator. I assigned every entry a number and ran the generator. The lucky number was 33

So my green set giveaway is going to Fran of ArtzyFran. CONGRATULATIONS FRAN !!!! good luck to everyone else I hope you all win a gift!

This has been a LOT of fun. There really is joy in giving!!

After all that excitment, we had to sit down and celebrate with some yummy black raspberry and chocolate ice cream.

One World One Heart Giveaway

This is a sticky post so it will stay on top for the duration of the annual giveaway. My daily blogs are found here at my Blog Home. or just below this post if your already at my home :)

Lisa Oceandreamer of Heart of the Nest is hosting the 2nd annual
ONE World-ONE Heart Event, starting Feb.1 everyone participating will be giving something away on their blog. All you need to do is leave a comment on THIS post. If you have a blog and want to give away something also or just meet the other participants to find their giveaways go here, and have fun blog hopping and meeting new people - it's a lot of fun. There are some absolutely beautiful, creative pieces being given away. I hope I win something!!!

This is my contribution to the event. I made the necklace and earrings and I've added in some other fun things too. Included is a bunny notepad, Sweethart candy hearts, paper doilies printed with Easter eggs, lip gloss, a flower hair band and confetti.














I will draw a name sometime on Feb. 14 and display the winning name that evening.

I have added a second set to giveaway to a second winner. The first set will be drawn by names from my cookie jar. - yes, of course I'll eat all the cookies out of it first. For the second one, for those who feel luckier with numerology, I'm going to assign a number to each name and select the second winner using a random number generator. and the second drawing winner will receive......

A springtime choker necklace, a polymer clay bracelet, a bunny notepad, some stickers and a hairband.

What IS ONE World-ONE Heart?
It is a blog-wide giveaway event. The original idea behind this was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. Last years event had nearly 100 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.
Good Luck everyone!

Reading challenges and the big giveaway.

I've been very busy this week. Besides keeping up with O W O H and entering my name in 400+ giveaways !!! yay! and recording the 200+ entries to my giveaway. I've completed 2 books for my book challenges. My book reviews can be found here. So far I'm very pleased with the selections to read that I made. I highly recommend all 5 books I've compelted so far this year.

Tomorrow is the day for my big giveaways. I'm very excited! PLUS, of course, I hope I win something too. I wonder what the odds are to win more that 3 giveaways if I've entered 400+ of them. good luck to everyone!

A couple of hard to find contests

Ok, I just did something I don't normally do, but I had a gooooood reason. Ann Aguirre's blog has a contest with great prizes but you have to do a quizz where it tells you what character you will be in a book after answering all the questions. Very cool prizes, I hope I win. My character for Grimspace is Jumper. good luck.

There is another giveaway with great prizes at Mod Mom . If you like entering giveaways this is one not to miss!

Out of Control

The One World One Heart giveaway now as over 300 participants. My odds of winning are becoming smaller everyday, but I'm having so much fun finding all wonderful people and their blogs out there it doesn't really matter much. Don't get me wrong, I would still like to win them all. OK, If I win more than 5 - I'll give someone else a chance. I hope I at least win one. {{{biting nails}}}

Ohio Beaders Showcase

check it out! A pair of earrings I made are on display at the Ohio Beaders Showcase! I practically feed published! woohoo.

I'm overwhelmed by how many people are participating in One World One Heart. It's taking all my time just getting everyones names into the drawing and making sure I get my name into everyone elses!! good luck to all who are participating.

Taking time

We are such a busy society. Whoever coined the phrase "Life comes at you fast." hit it right on the button. When was the last time you took time to be with yourself? It's the time in our life when we should enjoy long walks, scented bubble baths, watching sunrises and sunsets, enjoying our children and the animals around us. Take time out, just play, dream, laugh, enjoy, be open to change.

Need.... more.... time...

There doesn't seem to be enough time to do all the amazing fun things there are to do in this lifetime!!! I just found another craft I would like to try. To create my own beads using this medium called "UTEE" . Karla of Daydream Studios is creating some fun beads of her own and I immediately got bead envy.

I made the gingersnaps yesterday as promised and had myself a tea party. ooooo, the cookies turned out chewy on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside - with a wonderful sense of ginger and cinnamon. Stop by and have some!!!

Then we out out for mexican. Eating my way to ? health ?... my taste buds are returning anyway. The margarita"S" were delicious with the chips and hot salsa. We were a bit disappointed in the sopapillas for dessert. It seems that the true sopapilla recipe has been lost in northern translation. too bad.

Oh Bother, Another Blustery Day

I've completed another book in my challenge. my review can be found here The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert. a wonderful read.

Looks like it's going to be a messy, blustery day here. Maybe I'll make some GingerSnaps. YUM. Pictures coming soon.

What FUN!

I am having so much fun at the One World One Heart party giveaway! I have only visited about a dozen blogs so far and I am so surprised at how many blogs are out there that I never knew about. It is so much fun visiting new sites. I love blog-hopping. I wonder if I coined that one or if it's been used before. There is a lot of talent out there and one way to see it is to visit the One World One Heart blog and visit all the participating blogs. Hope you have as much fun as I'm having!