NC Fair Photography Competition

So, I've decided to enter another fair competition: amateur photography! I can't seem to figure out which of my pictures is the best. I've put my favorites below and would really appreciate your input on which is your favorite! I can only submit one photo, so it's got to be the best! Here's hoping I can get an "Honorable Mention" ribbon this year, because the competition is pretty stiff! Thanks for your help!

A Perfect Beginning

Biltmore Bliss

Lovely Lily

Dark Daffodils

A Day at the Beach

Sunlight Bath

Jumping Jellyfish!

The Lone Fisherman

Shark Infested Waters

E Loves the Beach

Toes in the Sand

Thoughts at 25 weeks

Heartburn is better than nausea, but plums are better than everything else. 

 The ability to bend over is a seriously under-rated activity.

My daughter is destined to be a world champion kick boxer or a ninja. (I'm really hoping for a ninja in the family, since it's always been a dream of mine... heh heh heh, Ja-ninj-uary...)

I thought I knew what tired was, but I guess I was wrong. I'm sure I'll be proven wrong again soon.

Foot rubs are a close second to plums for best thing ever. ( I crave plums, ok?) 

 The best way to ask if a woman is pregnant is the following, "Are you in a motherly way?" Said, of course with a thick southern accent and a skeptical look on your face. I think I almost died laughing. 

Things are a lot more scary. Like earthquakes. And spiders.

If you want a good laugh

Try doing something you haven't really done since high school. Yesterday, I pulled out my oboe and thought I might play a little something.

HA!  

Note to self: Leave the past behind you, or it will make it impossible for you to open your mouth wide enough to stick anything in it, let alone chew.

I'm workin' on a baby quilt

I'm not like most other expectant mothers out there. Instead of wanting to go out and buy all things pink and frilly when we found out we were having a girl, I started thinking about making my daughter a beautiful quilt.

I'm using this pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.

It's a pretty simple pattern (which is good since this is my first quilt) and I liked the colors they used in the example so much that I am using the same fabrics they used. Right now, I'm in the cutting stage and will soon embark on the lay-everything-out-then-sew-it-all-together phase. I'll post progress photos as I continue to work on it. Wish me luck! And if you have any tips on how to quilt, or a method that works great for you, let me know! I'm all ears!

Blacksburg is Beautiful

And again, I HAVE NO PICTURES! Arg! I curse my parents for not being the kind of people who whip their cameras out for everything!

My parents recently relocated to scenic Blacksburg, Virginia so that my dad can earn his PhD at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!). This week, I went up to see them and help them unpack. I didn't feel particularly useful, as my ability to bend over has been severely limited as of late, but I was able to smooth ALL of the packing paper from the boxes so they can save it. Go me!

Their apartment complex is amazing! It is a group of several different kinds of rental properties catering to specific demographics. For example, my parents live in the section that caters to older adults and families (meaning no roudy students to deal with). Their building is the farthest into the complex and is next to Virginia Tech farms, so the view is incredibly picturesque. Pictures will be provided upon completion of another trip up there!

In addition to having a fantastic view, they are only two miles away from campus. Since my parents only brought one car with them, that means my dad will be riding his incredibly fancy bike (it costs more than my first car!) to school everyday. That is, until it gets to cold and snows. Then he'll take the bus that picks up right at his building and drops off on campus. Very convenient.

Their apartment is a tiny two bedroom, two bathroom place that has been fitted to be handicap accessible (a plus for my mom and her walker) and the kitchen is pitiful. I inherited my love of cooking from my mom, so this is going to be a challenge for her. But knowing her, she'll make it fabulous and work for her in short order.

Part of me thinks my dad is crazy for going back to school at this point in his life (I mean the guy is 60-something), but another part of me is really proud of him and wants him to have that accomplishment under his belt.

I'm also excited that they are a mere 221 miles from me, as opposed to the 2157 miles previous. I am planning on visiting often, especially after the baby comes. I'm so glad that we'll be able to see Grandma and Grandpa Dudley more often than when they lived in Utah. The only unfortunate downside of this is that after three years when my dad finishes, they'll have to move back to Utah. They're currently renting out their house and most of their stuff is still in the basement there. Since my dad's work is paying for him to go to school, he had to agree to work for them a minimum of three years after the completion of his education. *le sigh* Well, maybe by that time, we'll be rolling in the dough and can fly out of Utah twice a year or something... One can hope, right?

Well, I'm happy for my parents and hope they can make some good friends there soon! Good luck, Dad!

I *love* this

So, in my daily blog searching, I cam across this website:

She recently featured a tutorial on turning old concert t-shirts into a newborn gown.

These gowns are adorable, so of course I had to try it for myself (especially since I just got my sewing machines tuned up for a quilt I'm making).

I followed her instructions with one exception. Since I was doing a trial run on a white undershirt I had lying around and didn't have any images to try to include, I cut my front and back pieces so the bottom was already hemmed! 

I thought I was being so clever until the time came to put the elastic in! :) I "lovingly" picked out the seams at the bottom and threaded my elastic through the existing hem. To close, I hand stitched the sides closed again so the elastic is free to float inside the garment. And here's the final product!

I dyed the gown using Rit's liquid dye in Aquamarine! So pretty!

I cannot figure out where those black marks came from! They only showed up after I had hung it to dry. Weird, huh?

Isn't it adorable? I used the ombre dyeing technique on the Rit website (found here) to achieve avariation in color (which ended up being very subtle and hard to see in the photo). It was also my first attempt at dyeing anything (apart from tie dye). So, I was really proud of how everything turned out!

Perhaps I'll put some rhinestones on it to make it even more adorable (everything's better with a little bling, right?!). Hmmm... Any way, now that I've made one (and worked out some kinks), I think I'm going to try it on this t-shirt.

I already know I'm going to have to make the sleeves out of a contrasting fabric, but I'm not sure what color I should use. Any ideas?

Any way, I just want to give a HUGE thank you to Carrie over at www.thismamamakesstuff.com for the tutorial and I'm seriously looking forward to making these for all my pregnant friends too!

My hair! The Results!

Not long after I published this post,I scheduled an appointment with my stylist with the intent of either cutting it all off, or getting a trim and dyeing it. After consulting with my stylist, she suggested cutting it. Now I was thinking something along these lines,

but she talked me back from that a little and gave me a great cut! It'll appear after the break!