Carey's normal life

As I sit here and reflect on 2016, I have realized this has been one of the best years I have had.  I believe it is because I choose to make this year all about me.  Might seem a bit selfish but sometimes it has to be that way in order for you to help take care of others you need to take care of you. I started a long time ago to finish my education and was a huge goal for 2016 to make sure I did exactly that.  It has been one year since I have retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and it was time to finish what I had started all those years ago.  As of December 2016 I did exactly that and finished with my AAS with Major in Accounting. I also started on another journey that I have had a problem with for many years.  Crossfit was something I had heard of and was scared to try.  More than a few occasions I walked in the door and walked right the hell back out.  Who in the right mind sweats like that and gets beat and comes back the next day to say, Hi, Im...

Over the last oh lets say 4 years.. I am sure I am being a bit short but I am going to leave it at 4!  I have been working on such a wonderful Quilt for my Mother in Law.  I first noticed it in a quilt magazine and knew right away that it was the quilt I had to make for her.  With this being the case I started almost immediately but I had no fabric.. This is also the beginning of an obsession I thought I got rid of about 8 years ago.  I went thru a little self something I don't even know what it was and got rid of EVERYTHING.. I mean if it had craft in it I gave it away or sent it to the second hand store.  I know life was getting me down but I was sick of toting things around that I NEVER.. NEVER finish.  So years later here I am again with a room full of awesomeness and nothing getting completed :D Oh well in my eyes I would rather think of what I am trying to complete for the ones I love and not give myself such ridicul...

I am not talking about weddings :D But today is one of those days when I have laughed, I have cried, and I have had many hours of myself which could be good and bad for all those involved in my life. I love to sew and I have been working on a quilt I have wanted to do for so long.  The Pattern is called Autumn Ablaze from Quilting Celebrations www.quiltingcelebrations.com .  Its from the Fall 2012 magazine, this will also tell you how long I have been wanting to do this.  See you all should believe me when I tell you this is a year all about me. So that gives you an Idea of what I have been doing this past week, plus many others more.  I have about 10 projects that I am always working on, I do tend to get bored with just one so when I see something I just jump right in and sew my little heart out.  Maybe one of these days I will actually finish a project without putting it aside for something else... Nah that is to predictable..   I was t...

So as everyone would know the beginning of the year is all about starting new or over.  I believe it is great to get a fresh start on so many things.  So as my friend Jeanette us to do when I worked with her is she had a board or what she called it things she wanted to achieve or try to do during the year.  So I didn't get as fancy as she did but I did the exact same thing.  I started my own board, I didn't put photos yet (but I will because I love visual) but I wanted to make sure I could see what I expected out of 2015 and so it didn't go away its always in my craft room staring me in the face.  So now when I am down or things are not going my way I can add words or rethink why I'm not getting what I wanted to achieve.  Some of the things I wrote on this board was me.  I want to think about myself this year, I am a mother of four wonderful daughters, but I pour myself into them and then I find I am left with a wasted self and nothing to show for all ...

Quilting from the heart I will say this if you would have told me that 6 months ago I would have fallen in love with quiliting as much as I have, I wouldnt believe you.  This is quilt #8 that I have finished but only #2 that I have been able to post since I have not given them to the recipiants yet. Since I learned all of this on my own by trial and error I also figured I would show you some of the work as I have finished it.  This is one panel complete now to finish it up and get it to the quilters.  Because I have not learned how to do that just yet but it is on my list of things to learn. I cant tell you how much I loved this tool that I purchased for myself since no one bought it for me off my Christmas List :D and I will say besides my sewing machine this is used almost as much a Jill lol. And this is the progress of the blocks.  Sometimes I am my own worst enemy since its all about line and linning up.  OH MY WORD sometimes this is the ...

Today I started on a journey.. Learning new things! I have a habit of not wanting to do things because I am scared because I really have no idea how to do so.  So with that said I have gone on many journey's lately but for right now this is the only one I can talk about. So I started a quilt well over 20 years ago.  One of my most precious friends showed me how to use a sewing machine while I lived in New York and over the last 20 years I have done a few things but have not really taken up sewing until that last few months.   Finished Quilt that took 20 years to finish  Last Mothers Day my family cleared out a room in my home and gave it to me so I can actually use it instead of stowing all my stuff under the stairs like Harry Potter.  So I set my room up and it stayed that way for a long time.  Things got put into it and stored and then it became a mess and then right before the New Year I finished a Crocheted Flag I did for a friend of mine as ...