PhotoHunt - December 18th 2010

As I promised in my New Year's review I wanted to get all caught up with my PhotoHunts, so here's one down... and many to go!

The theme on December 18th was "Male"  Wow, it was hard to pick just the right picture, and make it a significant picture.

This is my buddy Jason from Taekwon-Do, I would say I've known him for over 10 years now.  I knew him as a teenager, just starting to drive, but he was always a black belt.  In all of these years he's been a great friend, motivator, and inspiration.  He's hit a lot of milestones this year and I'm very proud of him.  He got married this past July, in November he tested for his 4th Degree Black Belt (a huge milestone in the TKD world), and this year he's expecting his first child.  What a year he's had!

Jason at his 4th Degree Black Belt Testing November 2010

We both took a step away from Taekwon-Do over 8ish years ago when I went back, I joined up at Almonte Taekwon-Do to be closer to my new house.  After running into Jason and finding out that he wasn't training, I persuaded him to come train with me in Almonte.  He used to train with our head instructor and got his first Degree Black Belt under him, but moved to Lu's Taekwon-Do where I started out.  This is where we met.

So Jason is my "male" inspiration.

I have stitched a little bit tonight, I completed another 10x10 on The Accolade and got a good start on the "water" block of Art Deco Spirits.

My migraine was gone when I got up this morning for work, I was very energetic to start my day but by lunchtime I wasn't feeling very well again.  My headache was coming back, but ducked away again, just didn't feel great.  I came home and slept for a few hours after work, but that didn't leave me feeling much better.  As of 9PM my migraine seems to be coming back and I don't want it.

January Stitching Goals & Small Finishes

Well I survived my first day back to work... barely!  By 10:30am I had a headache, and by lunchtime it turned into a migraine.  Which means I stayed home Monday night instead of going to Taekwon-Do (which I would of preferred).  I did spend a little more time setting  up my new laptop, gosh I've got so many files/folders to clean up from my old computer!

I sat down on Sunday night and jotted down what I wanted to get done for this upcoming month (stitching wise) and what I did manage to accomplish in December.

December Goal Review
Finish Air on Art Deco Spirits -- it was close, I finished it up before noon on January 1st
Stitch one ornament - Yes, Byzantine #2
Work on The Accolade - Yes!

January Stitching Goals
Work on Art Deco Spirits
Work on The Accolade
Stitch 1 Ornament

Since I didn't have the brains to work on any of my more complicated pieces I took the time to do the finishing on the snowflake I stitched up on New Year's Day.  Its a little goal of mine this year, to actually finish things in a timely manner!

Snowflake - Cross Stitch Gold

Stitched on 28ct Opalescent Lugana

Stitched with DMC & Kreinik BF

Then I stitched up this wee snowflake from the same pattern.  It was so small instead of turning it into an ornament, I made it into a scissor fob, it was just big enough to fit a nickle inside to give it a little weight.

First Finish of 2011

I finished up this little sparkly beauty on New Year's day... it was almost January 2nd by the time it was done.  I spotted these cute and beautifully coloured snowflakes a copy of Cross Stitch Gold at Rebbecca's I took advantage of her scanner/copier for a little working copy for myself.

Soon after getting home late Saturday afternoon I couldn't resist any longer and pulled threads and of course very sparkly fabric and got started.

Snowflake - Cross Stitch Gold

Stitched on 28ct opalescent lugana using DMC floss and kreinik blending filament

Thank you Rebbecca, Curt and the boys for having us over for yet another wonderful New Year's Eve, this is the 3rd year of our tradition.  Todd and I make the trek down to their home us girls stitch and the boys enjoy a few adult beverages and we "hang" ring in the New Year together, then fall into bed!  This year I was lucky to witness Rebecca's huge happy dance, Ink Circles Growth Rings while I plugged away at my Air panel on Art Deco Spirits.

2010, The Year In Review

Sorry about the delay in getting my annual "Year In Review" post up, I had really intended to do it yesterday, then the letter "i" broke on my laptop keyboard.  Do you know how hard it is to get by without the letter i?  Pretty darned hard.  So today when the shops opened up not only did we do the grocery shopping, I got a new wireless keyboard, wireless printer (silly me though its not compatible with the air print on my iPhone... shoulda done my research first but it was dirt cheap!), and a new laptop.  Did I REALLY need a new laptop?  No, my old one has been performing beautifully but all of you know I do hit the roads quite regularly and you loose the point of a laptop when you have to have a keyboard, it kinda becomes a glorified desktop computer.  The reason we did get the new keyboard for it is so that Todd can inherit it.  He's been using a really old laptop for sometime now and I'm tired of hearing him curse and swear over it so in the end it will reduce my stress level.  I've moved up in the world to a 17.6 inch monitor and I quite like it.  I'll probably change my mind when I lug it with me!

Let's get to the interesting stuff first....

The ceremonial emptying of the Ort Jar on New Year's Day!  I've noticed many of my online stitching friends have adopted this annual tradition as well.  Doesn't it feel great/therapeutic to dispose of all of those orts to start fresh?  I think this year I'll have to hit some of those neat shops I went to in the fall with my friend Tracey to find myself a nicer, more interesting ort jar than a plain old Mason Jar.

The Ort Jar stuffed full by December 31, 2010

Emptied and awaiting 2011 orts!

Stitching Year In Review :

I completed 30 projects in 2010 all of varying sizes from the tiny to the very big!  The finishes I'm most proud of are :

Tour des Marques by The Silver Lining

(psst I have another SL waiting in the wings)

Celestial Dragon by Teresa Wentzler

I had hoped to finish Art Deco Spirits as well in 2010 but I got close, with finishing up 3/4 on New Year's Day ( I didn't quite make the midnight deadline, but I was backstitching as the clock struck midnight at Rebecca's).

3/4 of Art Deco Spirits completed

Air Panel finished on New Year's Day

So this year there's not big New Year's Day start as there has been in previous years. My good friends Bonnie and Christin (she's got a pic of the flower frog I bought her on her blog go take a look!) indulged themselves by starting Ink Circle's Cirque des Cirques. I may join them later in the year.  For now I'm going to carry on with last year's focus, to empty out what's left in my stitching basket!  I did very well this past year with finishing off Tour Des Marques and Celestial Dragon, both very big projects!

Here's what's left to stitch up in 2011

Art Deco Spirits by Mirabilia

The Accolade - Timeless Designs, Gitta's

Delightful Dragon Fob by Teresa Wentzler

Enchantment of Winter by Dimples Designs -- my next focus piece

This little kit I started on my DR trip last year and I've had no interest in picking it back up

Byzantine Ornament #3 by Teresa Wenztler

I of course will be continuing my ornament a month which I have been doing for years!  I think this year I'll be stitching up all the JBW mittens to match the stockings I gave the girls in the office for Christmas this past year, and I'll finish up the Teresa Wentzler Byzantine Ornaments.

Personal Highlights of 2010....

My Dominican Experience Trip for sure!  What an amazing experience (see my posts from March 2010), and to share it with teenagers just made it so much more rewarding.  I'm very fortunate and my Principal has allowed me to run the trip again for 2011 and in a few short weeks I'll be back in The Dominican Republic again, this time with 12 different students!  I'm looking forward to my trip February 18-25th, and of course I will have photos for you!

My summer vacation was just so wonderful this year!  I got to spend a couple of days up in the gorgeous Georgian Bay area with my friend Sheila, it was a treat for sure!

Then I got to spend 3 days in Quebec City with my Mum.  If you're ever in Canada or are a Canadian everyone should make a trip to Quebec City once in their lives!  I definitely want to go back and explore it some more.

Of  course there have been the wonderful retreats and get togethers I've been lucky to attend this last year!  I enjoy and cherish each an every one of them.  There's nothing more pleasing than being in a room full of people intent on one purpose that's to stitch!!!  I of course am looking forward to more of these great days with friends in 2011!!!

Billy Talent

Nickleback

Concerts!  There's not been too many of them in 2010 here in Ottawa but I did get to go to two great shows with Christin early on in the year, Billy Talent and Nickleback!  Two of my favourite bands!

I got to see a once in a lifetime show this fall with my Mum when Roger Waters went on tour with Pink Floyd's The Wall from start to finish.  Wow!  What a show!

There was a hurricane named after me this year!  However I do think it was a fairly well behaved hurricane... as well as a hurricane can be.

I participated in my 3rd Run For the Cure and thanks to many of you I raised $1,410.00 for breast cancer research.  I'll be running again the first Sunday in October of 2011.  Speaking of running I've set two goals for myself this year and they're BIG!  I've already registered for the 10K in the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday May 28th.  This will be my first official timed race!  I'm hoping this will lead to registering and completing the Ottawa Army Run Half Marathon in September (not yet registered for).

Despite running this blog for 7 years, in July I stared a second blog : Battle of the Bulge, I wanted to separate my stitching blog from my weight loss experience.  Over at my new blog I'm sharing my weekly progress, Weight Watchers meeting topics, ideas and insights.  Speaking of my weight, I rung in the New Years 2lbs lighter than before the Christmas holidays started!  I was so happy to come out of this holiday season with a loss (very hard to do).  Ideally I'd like to loose 6 more pounds to get within my "healthy" BMI.  This year has definitely been a challenge to maintain my weight loss, back in March I gained about 6-8 lbs and it took me until August to get those pesky pounds off... they went on in 3 weeks and took me MONTHS to get off again.  Since then I've maintained my goal weight and have even dipped a little bit below every once in awhile.

This fall I was back to teaching at Taekwon-Do after a very long break (like 3 years!), its great to be back at the front of the class again.  I'm teaching the "Little Tigers" 4-6 year olds and loving it!  They are so much fun and life is just so simple and straightforward to them.  I also competed for the first time in just as long, coming home from a friendship tournament with a gold and bronze medals.  I look forward to competing some more this year.

I was very proud this year to remember to and fully participate in NaBloPoMo!  I posted once a day on TWO blogs for the whole month of November.  Imagine doing 60 blog entries in 30 days?  Yup I'm that crazy!

I've enjoyed getting back to sharing my PhotoHunt pictures with you in 2010 and I intend to continue in 2011.  I've got some catching up to do!!!

Finally on the fun side of life, I got to drive a Corvette for the first time ever!

So I think that covers EVERYTHING!  What I have done and what I hope to do both in my stitching life and my personal life.  I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year!

Friends, Gifts and Stitching Updates!

I have been very lucky this week!  I've got to spend some time with some of the very important people in my life!  Besides my family... which is always a given over the holidays.  On Tuesday I went to the gym with Christin before we joined Kathy at our favourite restaurant (Lone Star) for dinner.  Despite the restaurant being busy, our waiter got the drift and just left us alone to talk after eating.  There's nothing I hate more than being pushed out of my table before I'm ready to leave.  Sadly I forgot to get a picture of the three of us together!  It was great to get caught up with Kathy, I won't be seeing her again until March when I fly down to Arizona over the March Break!

Then on Wednesday I got to spend the afternoon and evening with my best friend Claire (and her hubby Patrick who I adore as well)!  She and I have been the best of friends since grade 10 and no matter where life has taken us (her) we've always somehow managed to keep in touch.  I think I'll be looking at a flight down to Jacksonville Florida this summer to spend a good couple of days with her!

When Christin and I met up on Tuesday it wasn't only to spend time with Kathy but we finally exchanged Christmas gifts.  I was finally able to give her the gorgeous flower frog I've been holding onto for months to her (for her scissors of course)!  Of course did I think to get a picture of it?  Nope!  Christin got me these cool racks (2 of them) for my ever growing ribbon collection!  Now I have room for more!  I've put them together but I'm now waiting for Todd to put them up on the wall for me... but I may have to take things into my own hands and attempt to mount them on the wall myself!

I have been stitching this week, more than I have in a very long time which has been nice.  I'm actually seeing progress on The Accolade!  Working on a 10x10 block every day before I pick up my main project has really been working for me.

Fingers crossed, I may get the Air Spirit finished on Art Deco Spirits, before the year is out!!!  We'll see as there are just hours left to the year.

Late Wednesday night I was stitching and I had Cuddles at my feet, and Hunter on the back of my chair!  Super cute!!!

Boxing Week Deals!

Todd, my niece Emma and I from Christmas Eve

Todd and I had talked about going shopping on Boxing Day but I was cranky and didn't feel like being nice to rude people so we didn't go.  So we went out shopping yesterday instead, there's always all kinds of deals and sales the week after Christmas, even tough Boxing Day is the big shopping day.  We spent all day shopping!

So what did I come out with?  Did I get some bargains.  We hit the all mighty Wal-Mart as we got a gift card for household stuff.  I got a new bath mat, bath towels, hand towels and tea towels, all that needed replacing they were looking very old.  We also got a few DVD's, and some reduced Christmas Tree decorations.

From there we hit my favourite clothing store, Reitmans... despite needing new tops I found 2 pairs of pants for work on sale!

I hit Michael's again and got more ribbons and trims on sale!  This time I got my ribbons at 85% off!  LOL!  I don't think I need to buy any more for a VERY long time... unless I need a very specific colour.

We then went to the store Todd really wanted to go to Sail a new outdoors store.  I happened to get a new winter coat on sale!  My Mum had given me money to get a shelving unit I wanted from Costco for Christmas.  Todd happened to get it for me for Christmas so the money went to this coat instead.  Last year I had bought a cheap winter coat that wasn't very fashionable as I had a whole winter wardrobe to replace.  This year I got something much nicer and lighter, my other coat was a little more bulky than I like.

Another stop on Todd's list was Mark's Work Warehouse, where I found a pair of winter boots on clearance!  They were on my shopping list as well as my current boots are over 5 years old and starting to really look like it!

One stop on my list since we were in the East end of town where we don't go so often was to hit the Lindt Outlet... I bought myself some very yummy chocolates!  Also I went to the Bulk Barn and got myself a whole 81 cents worth of Jujubes.  I love Jujubes!  I've been craving Jujubes!

I'm looking forward to this afternoon/evening!  Christin and I are going to be good girls, meet up at the gym before we head (back) to the East end of town and have dinner with Kathy!

December 11 Photo Hunt

The theme to this PhotoHunt is "Funny"  I got myself a new point and shoot camera a little while ago and my neice and I were playing with some of the settings on it and it does this great effect... turned out quite Funny!  I'm sure my 10 year old neice will be mortified to see this online!!!

Fish-eyed effect