When the going gets tough....

....the tough keep busy!

I've discovered that working with my hands is pretty good therapy. The photo above shows the product of my latest "therapy session." Who knows, by the time Michael's ship returns I might be able to open up my own jewelry and craft store. ;-)

UFO or WIP?

Those of you familiar with crafts have probably heard the acronym UFO. In fact, you may have a few floating around your house. For those new to the craft world, UFO stands for Unfinished Objects. For some reason, UFO has a bit of a negative feel to me. I have decided that those wonderful projects in bins and drawers are WIP (Works In Progress). I must admit, I have a few of those at my house.

I wanted to share this WIP with you. Perhaps it will motivate me to put down the books and embroidery for a bit and return to my sewing machine. I have machine pieced many projects, but this is my first attempt at machine quilting. I have all my layers pinned together and ready to go. So far, I have quilted one of the sewing machines. Once I finish with that I will go back and add needles and complete the spools of thread. I'll post it when I'm finished, but please don't hold your breath. I'd hate to see my friends turn blue. ;-)

Creative Daughter ~ Proud Mom

My daughter Sara has been artistic for as long as I can remember. She began drawing and painting as a young girl. She has the ability to draw or paint strictly from memory or imagination! I wish I could say the same. I must continually look at the object and have a huge eraser handy. ;-)

This is a photograph of one of her latest creations. There was a glare from my flash, but hopefully you can see the fun textures and rich colors. I love how it turned out. This mixed media style is new to her. For this painting she used acrylics, torn paper, stamps, and metallic pens. I love her choice of colors and the freedom she has to create from her heart. Yep.... that's my girl!

Michael has been deployed - along with a piece of my heart!

Graduation from the USNA - May 2007

A few quiet moments with his Sweetheart before leaving yesterday.

To my precious son and close friend:

May this be a time of adventure as you see and experience new places

May the beauty of the setting sun over the ocean take your breath away

May the continual roll of the waves remind you of my constant prayers for you

May you easily recall moments of sheer joy when loneliness sneaks up

May the immense love that I feel for you travel beside you wherever you go

And may God bring you home safely

Thanks Paula Deen

Being a native California girl, I used to pass over Paula's Food Network show because her Southern Drawl was a bit distracting. After giving it a chance, I realized that her Georgia (jawja) accent is fun, and her recipes are usually really good. I was looking for an easy dessert recipe to take to a New Year's Day gathering when I happened upon "Paula's Sweet Shop" episode. This recipe immediately caught my eye because it begins with refrigerator crescent rolls. Now that's my idea of easy! Add some cream cheese, sugar, almond extract, nuts....... and voila!

The rolls shown above are filled with the cream cheese mixture, egg washed, topped with nuts, and ready to be popped into the oven. *I didn't have almonds on hand so I substituted chopped pecans.

Once they were done baking, I drizzled them with an almond glaze. They disappeared fairly quickly, so I've decided to save this recipe for future gatherings. The recipe can be found on Foodnetwork.com by searching Paula's Sweet Shop. There are two other recipes from the episode that look pretty delicious too.

Happy Baking Y'all ;-)