13 years of Marriage!

Our anniversary! What a year! What can I say. We've had a busy year...both of us have worked ALOT. Will has put in the most hours of labor, usually 12 hours 5-6 (and sometimes) 7 days a week. I have done 8 hour days at work and then come home to do the chauffering to and from (Karate, gymnastics, baseball, CATCH, school)

How we celebrated the day:
We both worked the early shifts at work - then we rushed home to pack up the kids and some sandwiches. Then we took off for the mountains and did what we love...4 wheeling. I have to admit the trail we took freaked me out a bit. Because it wasnt just 4wheeling...it was crazy..along the side of a cliff descending into a gorge. It WAS worth it because there was a river at the bottom with a perfect place to swim. We had a blast - the kids played in the water.


I'm looking forward to this next year to come. I have alot of hopes and dreams that I want to work on. I have a feeling this year will be as full (if not more). Riley starts Kindergarden soon. This means 2 kids in school this year.

I love you William!! I love our 2 kids and our chaotic lives!
I would let you drive me down the side of a cliff anytime.

Quote of the week (from my Orange Juice)



13 years ago - July 30, 1994

Quilt I made for Ethan (my nephew)

Gel Medium

I read an article about Gel Medium and Gel Gloss Medium. It is amazing stuff, so I read. It can be an adhesive, varnish(not the matte one), photo transfer.
My first attempt at a photo transfer isn't so hot...

I printed a picture onto regular paper. I brushed on a layer of Matte Medium onto the paper and then I pressed the image onto canvas board. Once the image appeared dry I used a damp cloth to try to moisten the paper (to remove the paper). The paper peeled off fairly easily but the image is faint and not true colors.
I am going to try again. I think if I apply the medium onto the canvas it might work? We'll see.
-more later

The worst sunburn of my life!

SUNBURN UPDATE:


YES, THOSE ARE BLISTERS!
(This is not the worst picture... The blisters got even larger)

I had to go to the doctor. My legs seemed to get worse everyday. I would go to sleep and expect to wake up with the blisters to be somewhat better, but NO... My legs had to have the worse sunburn the Dr. had seen (actually he said he'd only seen 1 other burn this bad). If I had been burned like this on the rest of my body I would have been put in the hospital.

William says I'm a freak for taking pictures of my blistered legs. -Maybe I am. I have been focused on them all week. It has been 1 1/2 weeks and it will still be awhile before they are healed. The blisters have gone down now and the skin is going to peel. It's tight and feels like cracking if I bend down or do anything.

On a positive note...The new Harry Potter book (book 7) was just released. I went to Barnes and Nobles at midnight to the 'party' and bought my book. I am slowly reading some everyday so I can savor. This is the last book.

I haven't really done any fiber/quilt related projects. I have quilted a bit on the US quilt -I've been working on for awhile now. The thing that keeps popping into my head is paint / collage.

TAHOE!

The whole family has been in tahoe this week. It was beautiful. We had sun, rain, overcast--every day was different. I brought along this quilt ^ I worked on it a bit. It is my map of the US quilt. I am quilting it by hand using circles that start at the state capitols. I want to find some beads (maybe star beads) to mark the capitols. Riley has already slept under it (she always wants to sleep under all of my quilts whether they are complete or not (Riley under the crab quilt-->)


I have 9 of the 50 states quilted so far. I had the idea for the US quilt last year. I want something colorful and educational to hang on the wall in the kids playroom. It has already been somewhat educational -- I've already quizzed the kids about the states... Riley's response to Kansas: It's hot in Topeka( a line from a cartoon) some times she just says "I'm a hot topek-er" which sounds like 'toe picker'... I'm so proud that all of my hard quilting work is paying off...
JK I love quilting and my kids love my quilting.

I was going to enter this one in the fair but I missed the entry date so I haven't rushed at all.. I do want to get it done for my guilds show in September.




My favorite part of the whole week:

Kayaking! I love Kayaking. This picture is of me and Riley at Fallen Leaf Lake(the lake we camped at this week). Fallen leaf lake is only 5 minutes from Lake Tahoe. It's smaller and not very crowded. The shoreline is made of lots of stone/rock/pebbles. I didn't have water shoes and my feet suffered. It hurt...temporarily. I'm suffering still from the sunburn. I didn't put sunscreen on my legs. I am so sunburned- I can barely walk...my legs are still swollen. I can't believe I didn't use sunscreen! I remembered to bring the sunscreen... I put it on both kids, had some left on my hand and wiped it on my face and arms...but not on my legs.

Last night my legs were so painful and swollen I was afraid I was going to have to go to the hospital. And to be honest, I wasn't all that hot at the time. I didn't even know I was turning red until we were done and about to leave the lake. Then ... over the next 2-3 hours my legs got pinker and pinker and more painful... That night I was in agony. 2 1/2 days later I'm still in pain. I haven't been sunburned like this since 97 or 98 ? ? I don't remember.

The one thing I'm realizing about hindsight is that it wouldn't be hindsight if it were foresight.

(nancyism)

We did have a great time hiking, boating, kayaking, swimming, biking, visitor centering, enjoying each other and the beauty of Tahoe. We even saw bears! It was the best!