Christmas Dishcloths

Here are the two dishcloths that I knitted for our Church's Christmas Bazaar.

"Angel of Welcome"

I think the Angel is very pretty. The pattern was free online at Knit Alittle.

"Mr. Snowman"

The "Mr. Snowman" could've been better. It turned out pretty big for a dishcloth, but oh well I guess. The pattern called for size 6 needles, but the closest I had were size 7's. The pattern is cute though. I bought it online from Knits By Rachel.

I'm hoping that after the first of the year I'll be able to start on something new, like socks, or maybe a funky scarf.

Thanksgiving; Funny Video

I saw this commercial on tv the other day and thought it was hilarious! Check it out.



Thanksgiving was great. We had alot of great food! It's our tradition to use my Grandma Warner's recipes for dressing and pies so we were able to convert most things into Weight Watcher "friendly" food. This year I made my first apple pie.

I couldn't resist having a small piece. It was delicious!

All of Travis' finals are over with. He got straight A's for the quarter!

I also wanted to let everyone know that our church, Enterprise United Methodist, on Hiland Road in Pomeroy (just over the hill from Holzer Clinic) is having it's Christmas Bazaar this Saturday, December 1st, from 9am to 3pm. There will be baked goods as well as craft items for sale to benefit the church. I'm working on knitting a dishcloth with an angel and one with a snowflake on it and I'll also be baking something, so everyone's invited to come see what all we have for sale!

A Breakthrough!

Yes, I think I've finally had a breakthrough! For about the past 3 weeks all of us have been going to church at Enterprise United Methodist in Pomeroy. My parents and I belonged there several years ago but since Travis and I were looking for a new church I finally talked them into going back. That I think was a breakthrough within itself, but a different one. In our Adult Bible study lessons we have been studying the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis. I had heard the story before but never read it for myself or studied it. It was a great story of forgiveness and it really showed how God has a sort of "master plan" for us. The story starts out that Jacob, his father, loved him more than any of his other sons. That made all the brothers hate Joseph. Then as the story goes on they become more jealous of him and sell him into Egypt as a slave. Over a period of 20 years he was a slave, thrown into prison, brought out to tell Pharaoh what his dreams meant, and in a huge turn of events made overseer of all of Egypt to prepare for 7 years of famine. So during this time God dealt with him and he came to see that God had a plan for his life and he also forgave his brothers for what they had done to him because if they hadn't hated him and sold him into Egypt he would not be there to oversee the famine and many people would have died. All that got me thinking. I have really been one to struggle with forgiveness. But this story really helped me. It's hard not to be mad and hurt about the conflicts in our family, but the story helped me realize that if we hadn't had the problem, we wouldn't have moved back to Ohio, and Travis would not be able to go to school and later have a good, secure job. So I guess I should let the past go. It happened for a reason, I'm just not sure why it's still going on. But, we are happy and not missing out on anything.

Since my last post I decided to start a project to help the animals in the Meigs Co. Shelter. I have and will be gathering blankets, toys, and treats until Wednesday. So if anyone wants to participate let me know. It's definately an ongoing project, but this trip I wanted to do as a Thankgiving project to let the animals and volunteers there know that we are thankful for them and what they do.

I had a Pepsi last night for the first time in 7 months. It tasted sooo good, but I'm feeling alittle guilty for caving in and getting it especially since I've been strong for so long. I'm going to need alot of support this week and until Christmas to keep losing weight and not pigging out on apple pie or Christmas cookies. So far I've lost 30.8 pounds. That equals 120 sticks of butter (Yuck!) or 6 bags of potatoes, or 24 medium cantaloupes. That info was courtesy www.weightwatchers.com.

Updated Blog!

I finally figured out how to get a new layout! I'm not good with HTML at all, so during the transfer I lost all my links. I've spent most of the day updating my links and icons. I made a new category called "Charities Close To My Heart" that way anyone that wants to could donate. They all mean alot to me really. The US Humane Society was key to rescuing animals devastated by Hurricane Katrina. And they are such a great organization that helps all animals in many ways. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love animals. And I wish that I could help every single one. I also wanted to say that on Petfinder.com usually there is a shelter wish list for local shelters and I encourage everyone to find a shelter and donate one item for a homeless dog or cat. It would be horrible to be homeless, so I'm hoping to encourage people to help me make sure they have a clean, warm place to sleep and maybe a toy to play with to make things alittle brighter for them until they get their forever home.

Here is a wish list for Meigs County's Animal Shelter:

Towels
Bleach
Mops
Blankets
Straw/hay
Fencing or pens
Cages
Toys, Collars and Leashes

We adopted Bella from a shelter and I could not imagine my life without her! She really has been my best friend through so much. So look at what people could be missing out on.

I also have on my list the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society. Both of these are close to my heart because of my Grandma Warner. She had diabetes and had to give herself insulin shots twice a day. I wish she didn't have to suffer through sticking herself with needles everyday. So now that she's gone I want to help others with the disease to maybe not have to go through what she did. I did the Diabetes walk in Huntington a few years ago to raise money and it was alot of fun! I think Travis and I raised about $100. And I can't believe it but I walked all 5 miles! Then the Cancer Society is listed because my Grandma died of cancer. I know there is a long way to go in the fight against cancer, but maybe if there were new treatments or a cure for it I might still have my Grandma with me today. I love her very much and miss her terribly still.

Grandma Warner

In other news...Mom and I were installed as officers of Eastern Star on Monday night. I have a huge part to memorize before next month too :-( Here are a few pictures...

All The Members

Momma in her pretty dress

Me

Have a great Thursday!

Me, Me, Me....

I'm not really sure where to start with this post. It has been so long since I've felt like posting anything. As most of you know I've been battling depression for a long time now. Sometimes I'm ok, then other times I can't get myself to get out of bed to face the day. Since Travis had been laid off and we lost our health insurance we couldn't really afford to get my medicine so I decided I would go off of it for awhile. It was a really bad idea, but what else could I do? So about 2 weeks ago I started taking it again, everyday, like I'm supposed to. For the first few days it completely knocked me out. Then as I started to get used to it again I had no energy at all so I sat around all day like a zombie. I'm starting to feel alittle better now, but I just wish that I didn't have this stupid problem. Really it's embarrassing. That's why I don't really talk about it. I feel like I should be able to "snap out of it", but I can't. Then I feel like I am a weak person, strong people don't act this way. But really deep down, I can't help it. I just want to be better. I want to be able to function like a normal person. Here is a link to learn more about depression.

Yesterday was our election day. The ballot was for Syracuse village Mayor, Clerk, Council, Sutton Township Trustee, and Southern School Board. In the mayoral race it was between two people, basically a race between the lesser of two evils. Neither one fits the category of what I'd call a great mayor. The Clerk is the one I'm disappointed in. I really don't like the one who won. She has been the clerk forever and has an attitude problem. Other than that I think our local government will run as usual, unintelligently.

Travis is almost finished with his first quarter at Washington State. And I'm very very proud to announce that he has straight A's! Next week is finals, and he has his last one on the 19th. Winter quarter starts in January so he will have the holidays off which is great. I haven't gotten to spend much time with him since September so it will be nice to have him back for awhile.

I want to congratulate Angie & Joe on the birth of their son Rylan. He is such a beautiful baby. Best wishes for all of them.