First Time for Everything...

Over the 4th of July we met with some friends, shared experiences, while our children played.  One of the things we discovered that day in chatting about Ziona's desire to only eat Macaroni and Cheese, was that we had never fed her Spaghetti.  Last week we remedy that situation after a tip to the store!

We have now added another item to the very small list of things that she will eat! Operation success!

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

I Just Don't know What to Do With Myself.

I have hit a major roadblock in my crafting, quilting and completing.  I am not sure what exactly to do about it.  The containers get pulled down from the shelves, the projects are riffled through, but nothing seems to be going much further than a  stray stitch here or there.  Beautiful fabrics, thought projects, many for gifts and yet I am stuck.  Do you ever feel this way?  What do you do to motivate yourself?

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

On the Road...Again

We are enjoying the ability to be able to travel a little bit, even if it is a drive out of the city into the country!

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

Growing!

We went to a rather late 2 year check-up today, look at my happy, growing girl (before they did the vaccinations)!

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

A Little Summer Reading

Hello there friends!  I stopped by the library a couple of days ago to let my daughter pick out a few books to read. My mind really wasn't on picking up something for myself,  but the husband talked me into atleast glancing at the fiction.  Tucked into the elevator with a couple older gentleman,  one of which told me the fiction was on the third floor.

The sound of my flip-flops seem to be as loud as canon blasts as I made my way around the corner to start my search for summer reading of my own. It was 10 minutes before I realized I was in the wrong place, though I am sure there is fiction among the foreign language texts!  Embarrassed by a few glares, I couldn't make my way noisily back to the elevator, so I dashed into one of the book filled aisles.

A deep breath, then my eyes opened onto the bountiful goodness, quilt books! Contentment filled me as I clutched my treasures,  no glares could pierce my excitement as my bouncing step made its way to freedom (and the check out counter downstairs). Where should I start from this pile?  What is on your side table for reading this summer?

Ciao!  Shanna

Vacation Church Camp

This year was Ziona's first year attending Vacation Church Camp, she had quite a bit of fun!

Day 1:  A little unsure, but very excited!

Day 5 when I told her it was time to go, that we would not be coming back today!

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

The Day we Had been Waiting For!

After years of schooling, after relocation from Alaska to Texas, last week, the day had finally arrived...

"pink pop" with Grandma at Starbucks

Mr. Sparrow's Graduation hood

Me, Little Sparrow, Mr. Sparrow, and the in-laws

Mr. Sparrow's Graduate studies Adviser

Congratulations to my husband for graduating with High Honors!  We are finally finished and he better not mention the words "Ph.D studies" for atleast 2 years!

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

Back To Work

I disappeared from blogging for the past month; it wasn't a conscious thing for I had no plans to go anywhere. As it happens to all us in life, things come up that grabbed one's focus, it just was diverted more fully than I realized. I have been working on projects here and there, but I got to the point where I really needed to obtain more fabric to continue.

Some of you will look at my fabric stash and wonder how that could of happen with such the collection I already have? <laughter> there alot of smaller pieces on hand, and now I was ready to order the bigger pieces plus the backing fabrics for 3 quilts. I put my order in a week or so ago and received the box on Tuesday. I picked up yesterday and tried to get back into working. Instead of my usual joy I was like a kid who had come back to school after a summer break.  

My mind was a trillion miles away in space, yes a reference to the online video game I play! I know it seems strange to many of you how much that Internet space world means to me, but just like I have found friends among many of you who have followed me through out the years, I have found a kinship among my space pilot friends too. :-)

You will see more of me than you have in the last month, but gone are the days of posting on a schedule! There really is no need and though I have specific work that has deadlines,  the rest was always intended to be for my enjoyment. I have a couple projects I need to complete before the weekend,  but I will snap pictures so you can see.  If you look above you can see what my work area looked like about 15 minutes ago!

Thank you all, my dear friends!
*\0/* cheers 

Shanna

RRT: What's in a Name?

Have you ever wondered who owns or makes the products you buy at the store?  I was surprised by how many rival products were owned by the same company.  It doesn't show up here but what used to surprise me was that Starbucks owns its rivals Seattle's Best & the Teavana Stores, but that is a subject for another day!

For those of you that are my regular readers, you might remember that my name is "Shanna." Recently I entered my name into a website that does a historical name Analysis.  I had to laugh at the graphs that showed up for my name.  Among them is a graph that shows the peak of the popularity of when children were named "Shanna" at birth.  You may notice that is there is not a large range as perhaps the name "Mary" would be if you looked it up on the site HERE.  That is because I happen to be named after a romance novel my mother found in the waiting room; the book was published in 1977.  (I don't recommend if if you are curious! ;-D)

Have you ever done a Google search on your name before?  My favorite thing to come up was a comic book!  I mean that is totally me, right?!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to stop by Really Random Thursday to enjoy some more randomness!

*\0/* Cheers
Shanna
Linking to: Really random Thursday @ Live A Colorful Life

Murder Simply Brewed: A Book Review

Murder Simply Brewed

By Vannetta Chapman
Published by Zondervan

Publisher Book Description:  What will happen when two amateur sleuths, one Amish and one English, combine forces to solve the string of crimes happening in the Amish Artisan Village? Spring has arrived in Middlebury, Indiana, and Amber Wright can see profits in sight for her collection of Amish artisan shops—until she receives a call that Ethan Gray is dead. Hurrying over to A Simple Blend, she finds a single hole in the front window and Mr. Gray dead from an apparent heart attack. All the money is still in his register. Hannah Troyer takes over the shop’s duties, and she and Amber become fast friends as well as amateur sleuths. The police believe Gray’s death to be a by-product of vandalism, but Amber and Hannah aren't so easily convinced. Old Testament clues that don't add up, a neighbor who is pulled into the midst of the investigation, a town with secrets to hide, and blossoming romance—all will combine to push Amber and Hannah into unfamiliar roles in order to solve a mystery and bring peace to the Amish community.

My Thoughts:  This is the second Amish themed book I have picked up this month, so being more familiar with the culture from my last read, I was able to get into the book right away.  I am a big fan of mysteries in books, so I was rather delighted by how well the author continued the mystery without making me feel like it was dragging on.  I liked that the mystery was the main bit of the story, but built upon the friendships between several of the characters.  There was a bit of a romance weaving through the story, but not in a way that detracted from the story as a whole, nor did it seemed tacked on like some mysteries has been guilty of in the past.   Personally the story made me think of my interactions with both my friends and my acquaintances; how quickly one can go from only ones name to someone you would depend on & trust.  I would recommend this sweet story with a Mysterious bent; as for myself, I will be looking for more stories from this author.

*\0/* Cheers

Shanna

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”