Until Next Time...

 Hi friends!!  I figured I needed to come share my sewing/stitching/quilting updates with you because it's been a while.  So, let's get started... First up is quilty goodness.  And it comes with a story.  Christmas 2021 I bought myself a block of the month subscription from Fig Tree Fabrics for her Manchester by the Sea Mystery BOM program.  If you are not familiar with Joanna and Fig Tree Fabrics, go check her out.  Her stuff is GORGEOUS!!!  I've bought her fabric forever for clothes for the girls.  Joanna does the block of the month programs and sends out fabric and patterns each month and you end up with a beautiful sampler quilt.  Manchester by the Sea was scheduled for April 2022 thru March 2023.  I got a beautiful envelope of fabric and instructions to make blocks each of those months and did not touch a one of them until we came back from Disney last month.  I'm a member of her BOM group on Facebook and have seen the finished quilts for this and know it's won

Hello friends! It's been a while since I've been on here. I've read a bunch of books, eaten some yummy foods, sewn a lot of quilt blocks and stitched a lot of stitches. I've also had a wonderful vacation to Disney with the WHOLE family! Let me just tell you, it was HOT there. Yes, I know it's Florida and it's supposed to be hot.  But ya'll.  I'm originally from south Louisiana,  I get heat and humidity, but this was overwhelming lol the heat indexes were upper 90s and hit 101. In mid-September. But we still had a marvelous time. We rode all the rides we were aiming for and ate most of the snacks we planned for. And we got in two of our traditions-Boston Lobster Fest and mini-golf!  I totally went off any eating plan while there.  Mind you, I am not really on an eating plan right now, but I didn't overthink food.  If I wanted the fish and chips from the England pub at EPCOT, I ate

 Hi friends!  Eliza Dog and I are at home in Alabama this week.  She's actually at doggie daycare right now.  She knew right where to go when I got her out of the truck.  I hope that means she likes it LOL  She will go back on Thursday.  I plan on heading to Huntsville for the day and having lunch with Lo and going to the cross stitch/quilting store.  Weigh in on Saturday went ok, I was up .4.  I have TOTALLY eaten off my plan all weekend.  I ordered pizza cause I lost track of time cutting out a new Halloween quilt for Jenna.  And yesterday Billy and I had foot long coneys from Sonic for dinner before he went back to Georgia.  But, I'm back on track this morning.  I hit up our Publix after dropping Eliza off and grocery shopped so I am good.  I picked up a pancake/waffle mix that is Keto.  I'm wanting a waffle.  I'll let you know how it tastes next week. Here's the menu plan for the week... Monday - chicken strips with roasted radishes and broccoli and cheese sauce

 Since I will be at home for the month of August and I'll have access to ALL my sewing and cross stitch supplies, I thought I would make a goal for the month and share it here. In my cross stitch, I have the final installment of Cross Stitch Camp to do.  I'm using the Gather Pumpkins from the Fall Gather Round by Hands on Design to meet the "try something new" requirement since it has over one stitching in it and I've not done that before.  This is being done with all the called for floss and fabric because it came in a kit LOL I'm stitching along with Nichol Spohr's Flying Lessons Stitch Along and that starts August 16.  She posted a picutre of a conversion done on a fabric similar to what I've got and in purple.  You know I am a cutesy Halloween person so this color way was perfect for me.  I've picked mostly Colour & Cotton threads with a couple Weeks Dye Works for mine.  And aren't those floss drops adorable? I want to finish my June Cr

 I first read Julie Anne Long way back in 2012.  I jumped into her Pennyroyal Green series with book 6, How the Marquess was Won.  And let me just tell you, I fell in love with her writing.  So, when I was given the opportunity to become part of her ARC team I jumped at it.  Julie's latest release is How to Tame a Wild Rogue.  It's part of her Palace of Rogues series.  Book 6 to be precise, and it's my favorite of the series.   It's always fun to come back to a series that has characters that flow in all the books because you get to see them grow and change, even if they're not the main focus of the current story.  In this one, Lorcan and Daphne are the main characters, but lordy!  We get a lot of Angelique, Bolt, Delilah and Capt. Hardy.  And the scenes with them were MAGNIFICENT!!!!  There was this one sequence where all of our couples were not getting along and they all end up elsewhere (I'm trying to be vague to not spoil it for you LOL).  This showed us how

 WOOHOO!  I finally got lower than those 3.5 pounds I've been gaining and losing since May!  I was down 1.4 when I weighed this week.  7 pounds to go and I'll have a new first number :) With that being said, it seems like my journey with keto is doing pretty good LOL  My goal is to eat between 20-50 net carbs a day.  I've been hitting between 30-35 most days. And my sugar numbers are running in the 1-teens range.  I'm feeling pretty good. This week's menu has a couple things I've been craving.  I am super excited for tonight's meal.  It's one of the cravings LOL Monday - muffalettas.  I saw Cajun Keto Chef on Facebook make a keto friendly one in a wrap and that is what I'm doing.  Hubs will eat his on bread.  I've got some Flat Out Bread so mine should come to about 7 carbs. Tuesday - jalepeno popper chicken casserole with broccoli as a side.  This is another craving. Wednesday - Italian sausage stuffed portobellas Thursday - Philly cheesesteak s

Ash and Grant came visit the second week of July.  I always love having them at the house.  I miss them terribly.  So, I knew I needed to get my butt in gear and finish her birthday present. I actually finished stitching these pretties back in May, well before we left Odessa.  I even bought the frame for them in Odessa. And cut out the sticky board LOL  I had ordered a new glue gun, but the wrong glue stick size, so that is what the hold up was.  But, with Ashley coming to visit I got the correct glue sticks and got to work. This was easy to finish up and Ashley loved them.  The pattern is A Year of Celebrations by Hands on Design (one of both mine and Ashley's favorite designers). I dyed the fabric myself.  I believe it was a color called paper bag on the Rit Dye website.  I used some of the called for colors, but most of it was switched to Colour and Cotton threads. With this set being done, I am motivated to finish up my Truckin Along series b

Hello, friends! I'm back with another meal plan for this week. When I got on the scale Saturday I was back down those pesky 3.5 pounds I've been losing and gaining since May. Let's see if this week I can get passed them. I did learn that I will have to be more diligent about what I eat when we travel home for the weekends.  I did not count carbs on either Saturday or Sunday.  I did make low carb choices though.   So, here's the plan for this week. Monday - fried pork chops and cabbage. This was Billy's request. Tuesday- ground beef stroganoff and mashed cauliflower.   Wednesday- shrimp Alfredo. Spaghetti squash for me, noodles for Hubs Thursday- meatballs and marinara. I'm going to eat mine with a salad on the side. Hubs can have his on bread or over noodles Friday- eating out on way home again. This time I'll make a better choice than last Friday.  Until next time...

 Happy Monday, friends!  I'm back with a meal plan for the week.   Let me give you a little update on where my mind is at.  I've postponed my Optavia order.  In fact, I haven't had one since May.  While I like the ease of their plan, I do not want to have to buy their food for the rest of my life.  And I see people who are in maintenance talking about how they jump back on 5 & 1 and have fuelings every so often.  Yes, I know that I will have to watch what I eat and semi-diet if I want to maintain what I lost, but I don't want to have to do it with food that costs $25 a box for 7 servings.  I've been doing some research and found a program called Weight Loss with Real Food that uses Optavia's macros and follows that formula but figures out what they can eat with real food that fits it.  That sounds great, but it's a LOT of work.  More work than I am willing to do.  I am tired of pouring over recipes and counting macros and having to micromanage.  As I was

 Today is Wednesday, right?  My days are always off after a holiday.  I'm thankful for the rest and family time, but I'm lost on days.  So, we're just going to go with today being Wednesday, even if it isn't (I just checked and it is!) So, with that being said, here's what I'm working on this week in cross stitch.  First up is my June Cross Stitch Camp piece.  Sherri, The Colorado Stitcher on Instagram and Youtube, hosts Cross Stitch Camp each summer.  Each month, June, July and August, has a theme.  June was stitch something with a bird.  I chose Every Day Things by Heart in Hand (this was released this year at Nashville Market).  I am soooo close to being done that I will finish it in July.  This is on 16 count wren by Picture this Plus with all the called for floss. July's Cross Stitch Camp theme was something that grows.  I liberated Autumn 1831 by Samplers Not Forgotten from my wish list on 123stitch.  I'm doing it on 16 count Catacombs

Happy Independence Day! I hope you are spending it safely with family and friends.  We are doing a small BBQ with Jenna and Emery. Hubs has to head back to Georgia this afternoon for work in the morning.  I'm staying home in Alabama this week. Ash and Grant are coming next weekend and Hubs has to work the weekend to make up for being off today and yesterday. Since I don't want to miss them, I'm staying.  The weight fluctuations has not changed. 2 months losing and gaining the same 3.5 pounds. I'm going out of my mind.  So, I am making a conscious decision to recommit 100%.  With that thought, here's what the menu looks like for the rest of this week- Today- ribs,  veggie shish kabobs, baked beans Wednesday- eating lunch with Lo. She's been talking about Cava, a new Greek restaurant. I'll more than likely get a salad with some grilled chicken.  Thursday- creamy chicken and spinach bake and a salad Friday- shrimp scampi with spaghetti squash  I'll be back

Homesick is defined as acutely longing for one's family or home.  That perfectly described me for the last month or so. As you know, we've been in Odessa since October.  I enjoyed myself there. The landscape was different.  The people were different.  The weather was different.  And I had Hubs and the dog. But the beginning of May brought is talking about where we were going next. That lead to conversations about going home for a bit in between.  And that in turn made me miss my home. It made me miss my kitties. It made me realize I hadn't seen my girls live and in person since February.  I spent Mother's Day without them! Needless to say, I ended up very homesick.  I gained and lost the same 3.5 pounds all month. I didn't really menu plan. Or if I did, I didn't follow it 100%. There were several days when I just sat and stared out the window.  Billy's job was wrapping up but they kept extending the date. Finally we packed up and drove out of Ode

 Hi friends!  I'm back with the menu for this week.  I know, I missed last week's menu.  Last week was rough.  I didn't feel good.  I didn't really menu plan.  I didn't eat enough veggies.  All of that equaled the scale going up on weigh in day. I'm not even upset because of that.  I'm more upset that my sugar was off sooooo much during the week and I felt bad because of it.  When the readings were between 121-127 I had the most horrible headaches.  I had a headache for 4 days.  I told Billy was tired of my head hurting.  Thankfully, yesterday and today I am feeling better and my sugar is around 119. On to the menu...I really want some turkey.  Like Thanksgiving Day turkey.  So, that is definitely on the menu this week. Monday - slow cooker chicken teriyaki with riced cauliflower and zucchini and squash Tuesday - turkey breast and a broccoli casserole Wednesday -  tacos Thursday - chicken strips and a Mediterranean salad Friday - Big Mac Salad I'm really

 Last week's menu had Honey Sriracha Roasted Salmon Rice Bowls on it.  Billy wasn't impressed.  I however, was impressed.  I was so impressed I not only ate mine, but I ate his (he only took one bite) the next day.  In his defense, he's not a fan of salmon, where I will eat almost any seafood. I've been a fan of Gina Homolka for several years.  I have all her cookbooks and her website,  SkinnyTaste , has been bookmarked in my browser since I found it.  Her recipes are delicious and she gives the WW points for them.  Very helpful if you are following WW.  Gina publishes a weekly menu plan that I have followed before.  As I was browsing her website, I noticed the recipe for Honey Sriracha Roasted Salmon Rice Bowls.  It looked good so I decided to give it a try. (Not my picture, this is Gina's picture from her website) Since I'm a sucker for avocado and I like seafood, I knew I'd enjoy this.  And in totally honesty, I knew Billy probably wouldn't.  But I ma

 Hello, Friends!  I'm back with another weekly menu.  I know, I missed last week.  I didn't feel too good at the beginning of the week and then after I was busy the rest of the week and missed coming back to chat.  Weigh in was good for the last two weeks.  I lost 2.6 over them.  BUT, I ate off plan over last weekend and truthfully was up 3.2 on Monday morning when I started the Summer Slim Down Challenge in the Optavia group I'm in.  So since Monday I have lost 4.5 at the writing of this.  And if you notice, there is a correlation between eating off plan, not feeling good and weighing more.  One day I might learn that my body doesn't do well with certain foods. Speaking of the Summer Slim Down Challenge, they challenged us to set two goals, one scale victory and one non-scale.  My scale victory is to be down 10 pounds (13.9 if you count where I started on the 1st). I'm looking at numbers I have not seen since 2015ish. My non-scale victory was going to be to fit int

Monday is May 1st and that marks the beginning of #StichMaynia for cross stitchers.  I've participated in this in previous years.  I've never done it exactly as the originators designed -  start 31 new projects, one each day.  That is just a bit much for me and honestly, I don't have the fabric stash to do that LOL   This year I've decided to change it up again.  Instead of starting new things, I am going to work on WIPS that need to be finished.  So, consider this my starting point post for those WIPS. First up to finish is Hands on Design's Year of Celebrations season 1.  I'm doing this as a birthday gift for Ashley, my oldest daughter.  Well, her birthday was in March HAHAHAHA  I started this last May when the second season was released.  I'm working on January's and only have February, March and April left. Next up is another Hands on Design pattern.  I am a member of her Gather Round Club.  Seasonal stitches that she includes all the fab

 Hello friends!  Last week was a good one for the scale.  I was down 2.3 pounds!  Hubs worked all weekend but we still managed to go out on Saturday.  We had a breakfast date at McDonalds.  Then he surprised me and came home early Saturday evening and we went eat at Saltgrass Steakhouse.  If you have one of these close to you, definitely go give them a try.  We were very happy with our meals.  The Range Rattlers appetizer was DELICIOUS!  Totally not on plan, but as I've said before, sometimes I am going to make decisions that are not on plan and that's ok.  The Range Rattlers were jalepenos stuffed with cheese and a shrimp, them battered and fried.  They were served with Ranch dressing.  I ordered a Filet Mignon and grilled shrimp with a salad and roasted green beans.  Very good. So, onto the menu plan for this week.  I'm trying to use up the stuff in the freezer here because this job is wrapping up and I don't want to have to move a bunch of food.  However, I will have