Pictures, pictures and more pictures

Well, it's about time that I am able to share some pictures with you all. I came home today to a mail box full of goodies. I received my squares from Monique and can finally show you the squares that I stitched for her as well.

Here are the ones that I stitched for her:

Design: Call of the Ocean Cottage
by Abby Middleton, X-Appeal Designs
Fabric: 32 ct. Lambswool
Floss: DMC

Monique stitched me some wonderful squares as well. My guess, knowing her is that they are mostly her own design. She even included a navy ship off in the distance. I love them Monique! The sand castle is awesome!

I have finished my squares for Paula C ... I just need to mail them tomorrow. I've also been able to do a lot of work on Thank You for Serving. I finished the top part and am just working on the bottom and need to do the personalization (still need to get the dates from my grandfather). So without further ado, here is my progress:


I also had some stash waiting for me. I decided to sign up for the autoshipment of LHN's Little Women, so I have received Quilting and Reading. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with these. The project will probably wait until I return from deployment. I took advantage of MaryKathryn's summer sale and picked up LHN's Bookshelf, My Mark's "redeemer" and Lizzie Kate's Treat Time and Gather a Harvest. Here's a picture of all my new stash:


I had a great time while I was in Newport. I learned a lot and got to explore the Northeast again. I like visiting, but don't think I would want to settle up there. I got a chance to walk part of the Cliff Walk, visit Fort Adams, see some of the wineries that RI has to offer, and spend multiple evenings walking downtown. Here's my favorite pictures from the Cliff Walk


So now back to cleaning the house. I came home to a nasty surprise since I was rushing so much when I left that I forgot to take out the trash. I don't remember what exact food item I had thrown out but I came home to a nice smell and multiple flies. It has been fun trying to kill them all and make sure I clean out the trash can really well. So some more cleaning tonight and the big project tomorrow before I head back to work on Tuesday is to mow the lawn. Three weeks, when it rains, causes a lot of growth. I now get to catch up on all of the household chores that I have not been missing. Hopefully I'll have some time to stitch this weekend. Have a great week!

Kreativ Blogger Award

Thanks Heather for nominating me for the Kreativ Blogger award :). I really appreciate it!

Here are the rules of the award

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

So who to nominate?
1. Kristin Stitches - Kristin, another submarine wife, who does amazing work. I love the pieces that she has been working on.
2. Mystitchingtreasures - Barb, who has done a lot of great pieces for love quilts as well as personal pieces.
3. Sharon's Cross Stitch Obsession - Sharon, whose blog was one of the first I found and was one of the ones that inspired me to start blogging. Her work is fantastic!
4. Who has time to stitch??? - Sonda, who has had a lot of lovely finishes and great stories :).
5. Squazi & the Chicken - Suzanne, another wonderful stitching blogger. I found her while searching for engineering designs since she is engineer on hiatus.

It was hard to just chose five ... so many have inspired me. Though I did try to hit some blogs that have not been nominated yet. I enjoy each and every one of the blogs that I visit :)

PIF Update

Well, looks like I got my third person ... Gaby from Germany. So it's going to be a very international PIF ... and looks like it's spreading overseas :). This has introduced me to three new blogs, which will expand my knowledge since they are all foreign language (two also in English). Pictures really do speak 1000 words ... and break down some of the language barriers.

Other than that, I have finished Round 8 of Fair and Square ... Paula, I will be mailing it once I return home since I want to include a note :). I hope to finish Thank You for Serving soon too. Have a great week!

This and That

Well, I found out yesterday that Monique received her squares for the Summer Celebration Round of Fair and Square. You can see a pic at her site (I promise to post the picture as soon as I can upload it to my computer). I will post the pattern info again then, as I try to do with my finished pictures but since Heather asked, the design is from X-Appeal's Call of the Ocean by Abby Middleton. It was a fun and pretty quick stitch. I used the recommended DMC threads for it. For the signature block, I used the alphabet and numbers from Linda Bird's Happy Home Sampler in the Jul 08 issue of Cross-Stitch and Needlework.

In addition to finishing up Monique's block ... I have been working on Thank You for Serving. I have finished the American flag and started on the greenery at the top. Again ... I hope to share pictures of it with you soon. Upcoming projects include Fair & Square Round 8, as well as the Halloween and Autumn rounds. I'm enjoying my time in Newport ... able to catch up on reading and cross stitch and still study. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, before I forget ... I still need one more person to sign up for my PIF. I have had two takers, Belinda from Slovakia and Pike from Finland. Two new bloggers to me ... and it will be fun to send thing across the ocean. So please, just one more volunteer ... to receive something hand stitched by me and in return, pay it forward to three more people ... either through your blog or in person. Thanks!

Picture Update

Yay! I was able to borrow a card reader ... here's my progress on "Thank You for Serving". I haven't been working on it at all since last week since I needed to finish my Summer Celebration Squares but this is as far as I got after I started it. Looking forward to putting some more stitches in it in the next few weeks.



As for me, I've been in Newport, RI for the past week and will be here for another few weeks for school. It's definitely a nice change of pace from my regular work. I get back to my room at a regular hour ... class starts between 7 and 8, so don't have to get up too early. I get to spend some time learning about other types of ships and other missions. It's really nice to be able to talk to other division officers and find out about their experiences. I'm enjoying my time up in the Northeast again.

Another benefit has been having the chance to travel up to Boston on the weekend. I've had a chance to see some old friends and hope to see more tomorrow and next weekend. Have a great weekend!

A Quarter Century

Well, I think I am officially 25 (close enough anyways) ... I believe I was born around 11 am in the Naval Hospital in Charleston, SC. I was a very convenient baby :). At times it's so hard to believe that 25 years have gone by (which I'm sure is something my parents are saying today). There have been a lot of changes in the past 25 years. I don't have too much special planned today. For yet another year, DH is not here for my birthday (nor will we be together for his). Such is the military life, however. I was very blessed to have a card that he left for me and an e-mail waiting for me this morning from him. I have had many wonderful wishes already today ... nothing like a call from my "neighbor" this morning to wish me a happy birthday (the girl who's living next door to me during SWOS ... and when we are at sea as well).

I have been stitching and wish I could share my progress on "Thank You for Serving" but I forgot to bring the cord to download pictures from my camera to my computer. So until I can figure out a way to down load pictures or until I get home in about 2 and half weeks, there will be no pictures. I'm working on it and might be able to get some sooner. I've also been working on my Summer Celebration Squares for the Fair Square Exchange. I need to finish those by Monday to be on time ... I know I'm cutting it close to the wire ... don't worry Monique, I'll let you know if they are late but they should definitely be out by next week.

I'm still looking for two more people to sign up for a PIF. I have been impressed with the range of places people are visiting from. I'm hoping some more of the first time visitors will leave notes, but don't feel obligated. I would just love to know what leads people here.

Until next time ... Happy Stitching!

PIF

Well, I've been going back and forth about doing this for months. I finally decided to sign up for a PIF on Paula's blog. I figured I could do three (some of the other ones with more people just seemed out of reach at this point). So ... most of you know how this works. The first three people that leave a comment that they want to participate will receive something homemade from me sometime between now and Independence Day 2009. All you have to do is do the same for three more people and keep paying it forward.

The Last 15 Years

Here's a meme that I got from my friend Jill.

Here's the deal. Think back on the last 15 years of your life.What would you tell someone that you hadn't seen or talked to for 15 years? How would you sum up your life? You get 10 bullet points. A list of 10 things to summarize about you. At the end of your list, tag 5 more people and send on the love.

1. Well first off, in 1993 my family moved from Annapolis, MD to Tarpon Springs, FL. Little did we know at the time that this would be our last move for quite a bit of time (prior to that we had moved about every two years). My dad had resigned from the Navy and went into the reserves, as well as starting Adams Atomic Engines. I started school at my third (and last) elementary school that fall.

2. 94 - 97 I went to a magnet middle school for advanced math and science. During that time I was swimming and playing softball. Of course those were the awkward pre-adolescent years ... I think I have blocked out a lot of that time period.

3. In 1997 I started high school at a brand spankin new school (it was the second year that it was open) so there were no seniors that year. I was doing International Baccalaureate (another magnet program) which consisted of a lot of college level courses. High school saw me swimming on the school team, playing softball my sophomore year (winning the state championship) and participating in Mu Alpha Theta (a math competition team) as well as other various activities.

4. I graduated on June 5, 2001 and 24 days later reported to Annapolis to begin the fun that is known as plebe summer at USNA. That summer was the first of many that I would celebrate my birthday somewhere other than home.

5. At the Academy I studied Systems Engineering ... which eventually cumulated in doing a Trident Scholar project my senior year. I focused on determining the angle of approach of a target using a reconfigurable array of sonar sensors. Thus began my interest in underwater acoustics and sonar.

6. My four years at the Academy was also a great time of growth in my faith as a Christian. I got involved in OCF and met my core group of friends from the Academy. These are the friends that I can talk to after long stretches and pick up right where we left off. I also met my husband there and we started dating our senior year.

7. In May 2005, we graduated and were commissioned as ensigns and second lieutenants. About a week after graduation, my husband proposed to me in Central Park (we had stopped in NYC to see Wicked on our way home from a wedding at Holy Cross).

8. At the end of the summer, I headed up to Boston to work on my masters in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. A few months later, DH headed down to Charleston to begin the fun known as nuke school. We got married during the two weeks between Nuke School and Prototype on April 29, 2006. Afterwards he moved to Saratoga Springs, NY (which was a little bit closer). The best though was when he was in Groton for 3 months for Submarine Officer Basic School since we could visit every weekend.

9. In Jan 2007, DH finished up SOBC and moved down to VA. He flew out to meet his sub for the last month and a half of their deployment. He returned at the end of May ... I flew down to VA to close on our house and be there for homecoming. I graduated in June and reported to my ship two days later.

10. DH and I are currently doing the dual military thing. He is on a fast attack and I am on a large deck amphib. I can hardly believe that I have been aboard my ship for a year. DH left on deployment recently and I will be shortly. So far God has blessed us with similar schedules for the most part. We have settled into the area and are looking forward to having more time to explore it. DH just recently qualified in submarines and I will be heading up to RI for my school this weekend and should be qualified by the end of the month.

I think I am going to leave it open to those who would like to participate and not actually tag anyone. My past fifteen years have included a lot of growth since it covers the time from 5th grade to a year out of grad school. I hope you enjoy ... thanks for reading.