Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

1.Never Knew I Needed-Neyo
2. Bad Habits-Maxwell
3. Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen
4. Listen-Beyonce
5. Mr. Wendell-Arrested Development
6. Number One Spot-Ludacris
7. So High-John Legend
8. Butterfly-Mariah Carey
9. Battlefield-Jordin Sparks
10. Chasing Pavements-Adele

Day 24-Something you've learned

Life is like a box of chocolates.  You have the occasional nutty day made worse by the bit of pecan stuck in your back molar, sticky caramel filled days that you want to enjoy but can't seem to touch anything without getting that sticky residue from between your fingers on everything, but you forget about all of that once you get a bit of that perfect piece of chocolate that is so sweet and perfect it just melts in your mouth.  Those are moments I savor and make all the rest disappear.

Day 23-Favorite vacation

Yikes, this was a tough one.  I guess my favorite up to this point was the Mediterranean cruise we took last winter.  Despite getting sick, I had a fantastic time.  Went went to Italy, Spain, Turkey, Malta, Greece, and Egypt.  We experienced all four seasons on this trip.  We had snow in Spain, summer heat and a sand storm in Egypt, crisp autumn in Turkey, and spring showers in Greece.  I was never so glad I overpacked, lol. 

Malta

Madrid

Turkey

Egypt

Just cause :)

Day 22-Favorite city

Hands down Chicago is my favorite city in the US.  If the winter's weren't so brutal I would totally lobby to move there.  We had visited the windy city 4 or 5 times now I have a great time every visit.  Who wouldn't love some Gino's pizza anytime they felt like it.

Day 21-Picture of yourself

Hopefully this didn't mean self portrait, lol.  My arms are too short to have perfected that method of photography.  Anywho here is a picture of me at the M&M store in Las Vegas.  I don't even like M&M's like that but it was still fun to stop in for a few minute and see the ridiculously huge wall of candy.

Day 20-Nicknames

Those who know me in real life mostly refer to me a T, the first letter in my government name, lol.  Any guesses as to what that is?  Baby sis and a few friends call me Jayme or J.

My DH actually just refers to me as Wife and I in turn call him Husband.  Seriously we do.  It's to the point now where I will be talking to a friend and they will ask, "How is Husband?"  Not your Husband or the Husband, but just Husband.  Apparently he gets the same question when people ask how is Wife, lol.

Day 19-Something you miss

I actually miss Alexandria, VA.  Sometimes. 

I admit that I never fully opened my arms to Alexandria because I knew us living there was only temporary, however I do miss being so close to a lot of cultural activities, food, and of course shopping, lol!   We found one of our favorite Indian restaurants there, tried Ethiopian food, biked along the waterfront, had lunch at Hanes Point and watched planes come and go from DCA, and actually went to visit the Smithsonian Museums and landmarks (unlike most locals).  I do not miss that commute, that old apartment with no elevator, or the ridiculously humid summers.  But looking back Alexandria wasn't all that bad.

Day 18-Something you regret

Nothing.  I don't like to have regrets and I feel that life is too short to have regrets.  Sure there are things I wish I may have handled differently but I realize there is a lesson in everything.  So I look at the missteps I have made as life lessons and keep it moving. 

Day 17-Something you're looking forward to

Another cruise!  We can't decide where we want to go but we are leaning towards one that is round trip from New Orleans.  It visits Costa Maya, Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel.  Ok I am off to check cruise prices now, lol.

Day 16-Dream house

This was too easy since we currently live in our dream house.  No really we do.

Here is a picture taken a few days before we closed.  That's momma on the front steps.

Here is a picture from Jan '09.  Inaguaration Day to be exact.

Day 15-Bible verse

John 11:35 Jesus wept

I remember that being my favorite Bible verse to say in Sunday school; probably because it was the shortest.  But looking back that short Bible verse says so much.  Think about it.

Day 14-A picture you love

Momma and her girls

Day 13-Goals

Hmmmm......to finish sewing 2 things before the year is over?

No seriously, I have a vision wall in my studio-yes a wall,not a board but A WALL.  I haven't updated it in a while because I am still working on accomplishing a few things here and there.  Looking over at my wall now it is clear that while I do have things that I want to accomplish, a lot of the things on the wall are about maintaining.  Just because you have reached a goal you don't completely check it off.  A lot of goals you achieve you have to maintain in order to stay on track and to achieve other things.  In the maintenace category are family, marriage, health, and happiness.  As long as maintain those things, I have a strong foundation necessary to continue to pursue other goals. 

Day 12-What you believe

Every single thing that happens, happens for a reason.  You may not realize or understand it but it has its purpose. 

Everyone needs to cry every now and again.  I cried watching a commercial once but it was just time to release.  I put the tv on pause, cried, and picked back up where I left off.

I was destined to meet each of my Friends and Sorors.  Each of them is special in their own way and my relationship with each of them is slightly different than the next but just as meaningful.

There is somebody for everyone.  A person created to be your perfect match.  I believe know I found mine and married him 4 years ago.

Day 11-Favorite TV shows

Funny I posted about that in Day 1.  Maybe I should have read each day before I started but oh well.

Here they are again: 

channel 11 news

CSI

CSI: Miami

30 Rock

Private Practice

Grey’s Anatomy

Law and Order: SVU

Bones

Chef vs City

SouthLAnd

HawthoRNe

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Snakes.  I am terrified of those things.  So afraid I won't even post a picture in my blog.  Any snake, big small, venomous or not, I do not like snakes. period

Day 9-A picture of your friends

A picutre of your friends

Ok more like several pictures since we are never all together at the same time.

Ok I just realized that all of these pictures are from weddings or wedding related events.  Totally not intentional but funny when I think about it.  Babies and weddings always bring people together...

Purple People Eater

Pattern Description: Butterick 5247, Misses Tunic, Dress, Belt.  I made view B without the belt


Pattern Sizing:  Available in sizes 8-24.  I cut a 14



I paired the tunic with my favorite black suede booties for a night out with the ladies

 Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?  Absolutely!!!

Were the instructions easy to follow?  Very.  I previously made Butterick 5100 which was very similar in style and construction so this pattern gave me no problems.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  No dislikes.  Liked how simple and easy it was to assemble and can be styled in many different ways with some accessories.

Fabric Used:  A lightweight purple ribbed knit


Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:  None.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  I would like to sew this again in a print but that would be it for this pattern.  I do recommend it to others.  Quick sew for instant gratification.

Conclusion: Very easy and fun to play around with different looks.  If you haven't tried it already you should.  It looks great on every person I have seen review it on PR.

Cute broach that I picked up in DC for $1

Bottom Line:
Fabric: 2 yds @ 3.98/yd=$7.96
Notions: thread from my stash
Accessories: broach for $1
Total: $8.96

Day 8-A place you have traveled to

I made this one harder than it needed to be.  We have traveled a lot of places and I couldn't decide which one to post about.  I ended up choosing Costa Rica since it was the first big trip that DH and I took after we got married (aside from the honeymoon).  It was definitely an adventure vacation.  We did lots of hiking, ziplined over the cloud forest, went horseback riding, saw monkeys, sloths, spider, lizards, and lots of other creatures, and DH also celebrated a birthday while we were there.  Here are some highlights:

Here we are getting ready to zipline over the cloud forest in Monteverde

Here we are deep in the cloud forest on a hike

Amazing view of the cloud forest

View from our hotel room in Arenal

My DH riding a horse, never thought I'd see that

View from our hotel room in Manuel Antonio

WARNING: Very large spider about to appear

I really really don't like snakes but I got up close and personal with a spider to take this picture.  What is wrong with me, lol