In With the New, Out w/the Old

    HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!  By now most of us have put all of our Christmas decorations away and some of us have gotten out our snowman decor and we've already made it through a whole week into the new yr.  New beginnings and a new clean slate to start all over with.

    This is the yr. our oldest son plans to marry his sweetheart this coming June.  Lots of planning and prep work will unfold over the new few mths.  They plan to marry on the 3rd yr. anniversary of when he proposed to her.  Most of us thought their engagement would never last that long.  So many young people rush into marriage these days, but I commend them on waiting.  They needed lots of time to figure out who they are individually and as a couple. They are both excited to find out what the Lord has in store for them in their new life together.  We're really excited for them and for my hubby and me, as we become empty nesters...more on that later down the road.  My hubby jokes that as soon as our son moves out, he's changing the locks!  LOL

    I wanted to show you a couple of finishes that took place right before Christmas.  First up is a darling snowman stitched on perforated paper, then attached to the cutest little sled.  I sent this one to a very dear long-time friend of mine who lives in Iowa.  She collects snowmen and added this one to her collection this yr.  (I sell several of the patterns, etc. in my Etsy shop).

 This quilt block is designed by the same company as the sleds ~ Foxwood Crossings.  I actually met the designer last fall and she encouraged me to try something new.  It's called Counted Canvas.  Similar to cross stitch, but you use longer stitches and you stitch it on Mono Canvas, which looks a lot like evenweave linen, but much more stiffer.  Stitched using Pearl Cotton #5.

 I would eventually like to have this framed.  I really enjoyed working on this and hope to stitch a few more.  She has several other quilt designs as well.

 You know how I love to change colors on a design and this one is no exception.  I changed out the middle square in the corners to a lighter green shade, instead of making it all dark green as the pattern suggests.  This one was called, 'They Crowned Him King'.  I love the colors in it.

 On New Yr's Day we all made homemade pizzas.  It was really fun working w/the(adult) 'kiddos' as they each rolled out their own dough! We decided to make the deep-dish kind.....

 (ran out of round pans)...

 Oldest son always has to make his extra spicy!  What fun memories we made and hope to start a new tradition w/them every New Yr's Day.

 Last, but not least, the first book review of the new yr........

'A Most Convenient Marriage' by Regina Jennings, was sent to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review from Bethany House Publishers.

I must admit, at first I thought the story line was a bit slow at forming and I almost got sidetracked w/it just a bit, but when I kept on reading I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was enjoying this book as much as I was.
 The main character Abigail was a nurse to wounded soldiers back in the 1860's and had gotten close to one of her patients, Jeremiah, who arranged to marry her right before he died.  He wanted her to take care of his sister who was ill, in exchange for his farm.
  For months everyone back home believes she is married to their dead son/brother, etc. until the REAL Jeremiah show ups w/an injury of his own.  From that point on, the story line really perks up and the sparring between the two of them was unusually funny!  He is trying to 'win' back the girl of his dreams ~ Laurel, all the while 'married' to Abigail, even while trying to save his farm at the same time.  He tries to deny the fact that he is totally attracted to Abigail, his 'wife', and she w/him, but eventually tries to 'help' him win Laurel back and it gets even funnier.  The humor throughout is delightful and the author was very knowledgeable of that time period.
   Sometimes a story has a bit of a lag somewhere in the middle, but this book keeps the readers totally interested all the way through. I could hardly put it down.
 Regina Jennings is one talented writer and I highly recommend this book!

 Thanks always for stopping by and I hope your yr. is off to a good start so far!!
Tanya