WARNING!  PHOTO INTENSIVE POST.

I cannot believe it’s been a year since I moved to Arizona.  I have no regrets in doing so.  While it hasn’t been perfect, I know that very few things are, and I cannot think of anything that has happened so far that has made me wish we had not made this decision.  I am thankful that I wasted no time in jumping in and taking a quilting class as soon as I did, and that I showed up as soon as possible at Attic Needlework to participate in their Thursday night open stitching.  I have made some wonderful friends this past year.

This time last year I was just sitting down for the 2nd time in our new home.  Our furniture and 200+ boxes had been delivered, the delivery guys had surprised me by putting our bed together since they didn’t want me to have to sleep on the floor another night (I actually slept on a blow up mattress the night before), the cable guy had unpacked one of our TVs and hooked it up and made sure my internet was working, and I was searching the internet for the closest place to buy a refrigerator, washer, and dryer.  I can’t remember exactly when Mister finally showed up to see our house for the first time, but I still remember how nervous I was that he wouldn’t like it!  😀

We haven’t done as much as we would have liked this past year, but we knew the first year was going to be a wait-and-see year for us while we got our bearings and learned to live the non-military life.

This past month has been a busy one for both of us.  Mister finished one of his classes which is a good thing since his studio art class has increased his homework load.  He’s still loving it though!  He’s already registered for next term’s classes.

We finally were able to replace my beautiful 370Z that was totaled last year. When I chose that car it was a toss up between a “toy” or some “muscle.”  While searching for my new car this year I drove almost every car I could imagine myself wanting, but ultimately I chose the “muscle” I didn’t choose the last time.  My new car arrived a couple of weeks ago.  I am so in love with her!

Dressed for Halloween

I finally put Haiku away and went back to Rose Quaker.  While I’m still not stitching as much as I was it’s been nice to stitch on something I’m enjoying.  This week will find me back to Haiku though, as I rearranged my living room last week because of new furniture purchases for the family room, and I now have the perfect spot for Haiku to reside.  I really am very, very close to finishing it.

As mentioned, we purchased a new sofa, ottoman, and two chairs for our family room, from IKEA.  I heart that place.  I could completely furnish my house there!  I chose a linen colored sofa and ottoman cover and the chairs are grey and linen checked.  I’ll finish out the room with some red accessories for now.  It’s a little weird sitting in the chairs as I’ve gone from snugglers (as my stitching chair) to a regular sized chair.  My new stitching spot is probably going to be at the end of the sofa since I can’t stitch without my feet propped up 😉 and there needs to be room for a puppy or two when I’m stitching or reading.

Yesterday, I went with Annette to the Holiday Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival put on by Rusty Barn.  It was much smaller than the quilt festival we attended there this past January but there was still enough there to catch my eye.  While I put back about as much as I bought, I still managed to bring home some really nice things.  I was looking specifically for 3 things:  (1) fabrics to make a red and white; and black and white table topper quilt; (2) fabric to make a traveling holder for my cutting mat and rulers; and, (3) a small wool penny kit.  This is what I ended up bringing home with me:

MITI scissor fob. Yes, the white and pink beeds really “moon” glow in the light.

ASU colorway pin chicken

A couple of painted wooden signs for my stitching room.

Since I don’t need another new hobby have so much spare time on my hands, I also brought home:

A beaded needlecase kit in purple, gold, and black.

Beaded necklace kit in purples

Bees wax, beading thread, and 2 nippers (1 for my quilting table)

Beed organizing box

Chain Maille bracelet pattern

I did manage to find fabrics for my red and white quilt, including a backing fabric and a cute red and white Christmas tree wall hanging kit.

Fabrics for red and while quilt

Red and white Christmas tree wall quilt

I could only find backing fabric for a black and white quilt and I may end up tea dying this and creating a black and cream quilt instead, depending on what other fabrics I find in the future.

Backing for black and white quilt

I didn’t find the penny rug kit I wanted, but I didn’t leave there without purchasing a couple of “wool” related items.

Wool pin cushion with old spring to mount it on

I am sooo in love with these wool ornaments!

Wool Christmas ornaments

Because I promised myself before I went that I wasn’t going to buy any more patterns, I bought this one

Halloween wall hanging

and this one

Small wall hanging

I’m deluding myself into thinking I can get all this done before January when the next Quilt Festival arrives.

Oh, and one other purchase.  I found a sterling greyhound charm.  They are so very hard to find and I snatched it up to wear around my neck.

After all that was done I hung out with Annette at her house for about an hour before I went and had dinner with Cathy and her husband.  She was in town for a class at Attic Needlework and because she has such excellent taste in new cars, the two of us wanted to do a face-t0-face.  It’s always nice to finally get to meet online friends in person.  We talked for so long after we finished eating that we were both embarrassed to see how many people were standing in the lobby waiting for a table!  Oops.

Before I go finish creating my wonderful pot of chicken noodle soup, I’d like to ask that anyone still reading my blog say a small prayer for my HarleyQuinn.  She has a cracked tooth that has gotten infected and created some horrendous (I am not exaggerating) swelling in her face.  Yesterday she could barely open her left eye 🙁  and the major concern is that she will swell so badly that it can cause her skin to split.  She has already been to the doctor and they warned us of this swelling but it’s still not easy to deal with.  She is taking antibiotics and pain meds, and seems to be acting like she’s not in any pain, but it is oh so ever painful to look at her.  The earliest we could get her in to have it pulled is this coming Friday and for those of you who remember our Bandit, you know how stressed out all of this is making me — so maybe you can include me in your prayers as well.

I promise to not take so long to update again.  I had some drama-mama stuff happen on facebook with my family this past week over election issues and I find myself not wanting to play there very much for now.  Facebook posting has caused me to neglect my blog and I feel really bad about that.