Girls' Weekend: Sewing in the Mountains

Ahhhh....That's the sound of me relaxing.  Thursday, September 30 thru Sunday, October 3 allowed for a very fun, relaxing weekend.  Obviously I love to sew or I wouldn't have a small sewing business but a normal project for me consists of a million interruptions and distractions.  A fifteen minute sewing project often turns into a several hour project due to diaper changes, snotty noses, playing pretend and reading books.  That's ok though, those kiddos come first and I love them dearly.  BUT...sometimes a girl just needs to get away and enjoy her favorite hobby without any worry other than if her bobbin has enough thread on it.  In comes Quilt Weekend 5 (I've only actually participated in one other but I believe this was the 5th year).  My best pal, Ryan who trudged through architecture school with me, got me interested in quilting several years ago.  Though I've only made a few quilts and haven't worked on any in years, it is something I hope to get back into one day.  The weekend was spent in a cabin in Maggie Valley, owned by a cousin of Linda.  We went to a quilt show, shopped at a quilt store, ate some good food, did a lot of sewing and little sleeping.  The projects completed between the 8 of us ranged from a crib skirt to hooded towels to pillow covers to dresses to monogramming to actual quilts.  I really had a great time and am already looking forward to next year...and I think the beautiful Christmas quilts have inspired me to take a stab at quilting again.  Thanks Sally for watching the kiddos while Jacob was in Paris and I was in the mountains!!

 I love how this chandelier is hanging by a pulley.

 After finishing the binding on an old quilt she started with her mom 20+ years ago, Martha switched needles and hopped on the knitting train.

 Ryan finally finished piecing this quilt together that she started 5 years ago as part of a quilt club.

 Ryan fell asleep on the couch and Nichole needed space to lay out her pillow cases so she took advantage of what she could find.  In Ryan's defense, she is very much pregnant in this picture (as in due in a week and a half of when I am posting this) so she is allowed to fall asleep while taking breaks.  However, the only other time I participated in Quilt Weekend, she did the same thing so I'm not sure we can blame it on the pregnancy :).

 L to R.  Ryan, Linda, Sue (Ry's mom), Me, Martha, Ry's Grammy, Nichole (Ry's Sis), Rachel

 Aren't these Christmas Tree quilts that Sue and Linda made gorgeous??

 We stopped at an apple barn on the way home to get some cider and fresh veggies.

I grabbed an acorn squash and butternut squash to try out some new recipes:  Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash and Butternut Squash Soup.  mmmm

Half of my Life

***Warning - I'm not going to lie, this post is a sad one but it is my heart and it is therapuetic for me to open it up to you all.  I'm not looking for pity by writing this but rather expressing emotions that I have dealt with for the last half of my life.***

Linda Johns Toy

August 31, 1954 - October 19, 1996

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year is a big anniversary for me in regards to my mom's death.  I was 14 when mom died, I'm now 28.  That means I have now been living without her as long as I ever got to live with her.  It's a hard realization and no matter how long I go without, I will never forget those precious 14 years I had with her.  I want to thank all of you who stood by my side during that freshman year of high school.  Several of you continue to be an important part of my life.  I'm sure some of you still remember those sad days as easily as I do.  Mom was such a sweet, caring, silly, bright, happy lady and her personality was contagious.  She had a lot of friends and her death not only impacted me but many, many others.  I hope she is remembered for all of her great qualities but most importantly her deep love for Jesus.  If I could have a word with her this is what I'd say...

Mom,

I can't believe you've been gone for 14 years now.  I will NEVER forget you and I thank you for the times we had together.  I thank you for your grace and love towards me and Brad even when we were difficult.  I thank you for your compassion.  I still remember the time we had an argument before school when I was in elementary school.  You dropped me off (I was still upset) but sometime later I was called to the Principal's office to receive a message from you simply saying, "I love you."  I thank you for your honesty during your sickness and I thank you for fighting with all of your might.  I thank you for reminding me that Jesus has a plan and that even if He chose not to heal you that He was still sovereign.  I thank you for encouraging me not to get angry at God and to stay grounded.  I thank you for your love for Daddy and how your marriage together only brings back happy memories in my mind.  I thank you for your last letters to me because when I need to hear your voice I can pull them out and feel like you are speaking to me.  I thank you for the beautiful mother-daughter relationship we had.  Where we could talk and confide in one another and we were best friends.  Every year since you have been gone has been laced with moments when I needed and wanted you by my side.  I missed you during my first high school heart breaks.  I missed you reprimanding me when I brought home less than stellar grades.  I missed singing duets together at church.  I missed you cheering for me on the soccer field, especially when we won state championships.  I missed you beaming with pride as Brad escorted me on Homecoming Court.  I missed introducing you to Jacob and I missed you watching us fall in love.  I missed you helping me get ready for his prom and a year later my prom.  I missed you at my high school graduation and I missed you moving me into my dorm my freshman year of college.  I missed receiving care packages from you at Clemson because I still remember how when I would go to church camp for a week you would mail cards so that I would receive one every day.  I missed calling home to tell you about how awful architecture school was and I missed you at my college graduation.  I missed celebrating with you when I got engaged and I missed wedding dress shopping and planning my big day with you but more importantly I missed seeing you on the front row as I walked down the aisle to my best friend.  I missed your encouragement as Jacob and I hiked the Appalachian Trail and I missed you climbing Mt. Katahdin with us at the end.  I missed you moving me to Memphis.  I missed telling you about my first job and my first lay off.  I missed your support as I served on various mission projects, especially in Indonesia because I know you had a heart for service too.  I missed Thanksgivings and Christmases with you.  I missed you holding me as I mourned my first pregnancy loss BUT the thing I miss most of all is watching you hold my babies and watching you grandmother them.  You would adore them as much as you adored me.  And though I have had moments of sadness over the last half of my life...I want you to know that God HAS been SO good to us and provided many moments of happiness.  You would be so proud of the way Daddy took care of me and Brad and how he displayed grace in his parenting with us.  He supported us in our hobbies and provided alternatives when he wasn't too keen on our interests (like the time I wanted my belly button pierced he took me to get my ear pierced again instead).  I know he didn't sign up to be a single dad but he certainly took it without complaint.  God provided some amazing women in my life that I know you would forever be grateful to and God has provided a new wife for Daddy.  A woman that I know you would love.  It's hard to believe that as the days go on, my life will now be full of more days without you than with you but I promise that until my death, I will never, ever forget you.  Thank you for telling me about Jesus so that one day I can see you again as we sings praises to our Saviour side by side.  I look forward to doing cartwheels down the golden streets with you one day!  I love you. 

***If your reading this and your mom is still living, go tell her you love her and give her a hug if you live close enough.  Thank her for your relationship and the things she does for you.  I know that not every mother-daughter/son relationship is as healthy as mine was but I guarantee every mom out there has made at least one sacrifice that she deserves to be thanked for. You are so blessed to have her, don't ever forget that.***

a Wedding, a Hospital Trip & a Visit to a Friend

Whew, what a whirlwind couple of days we had last weekend.  Our weekend started Saturday morning as we drove to Knoxville to celebrate alongside Helen and Mike as they got married.  Helen and I worked together at LRK and she is such a sweet friend.  We were supposed to meet Sally & Clarence to go camping/hiking in the Smokies after the wedding but we got a call before the wedding saying they wouldn't be able to make it because Clarence had fallen off his bike while riding 63(!) miles.  By the time we were heading to the reception we found out that Clarence had broken his clavicle, broken a few ribs and injured a lung...much more serious than we originally thought.  Jacob and I decided it would be best to go to Greenville and see him so we headed there after the wedding, arriving at the hospital around 12:30a.m.  The next few days the cousins played while we made trips to the hospital to check on Papa.  He was in great spirits despite his condition.  Jacob was already scheduled to fly out of Greenville for a conference in Baltimore so I had planned on visiting my friends Joe & Meredith in Nashville on the way home.  Their little girl Anna Beth was one of Dakota's good buddies when they lived in Memphis.  Dakota was ecstatic to see her friend and I really enjoyed having some girl time with Mere.  We stayed for 2 nights and then made it back to Memphis in time for me to finish up a sewing order that had to be delivered Wednesday evening.  Whew.  Yes it was a lot for one little weekend.  Papa ended up spending almost a week in the hospital as they waited for the lung to recover and he is now facing a surgery tomorrow morning (10/19) to repair his broken clavicle.  Please say a prayer for him as he still has quite a recovery period to undergo.
Things aren't going to slow down just yet...we've got a birthday to celebrate, Halloween, a craft show and then it seems like Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we can blink.  I love a busy life though.  Keeps me on my toes!

I was born in Knoxville just a few months prior to the World's Fair in 1982.

 Helen & Mike asked me to make a monogrammed table runner for their cake to sit on.

 Dakota was pretty stoked about her loot!

 Chick-Fil-A is a good way to entertain little ones in a hospital waiting room!

 Curly & Blondie

 We really enjoyed frozen yogurt at Sweet CeCe's in downtown Franklin.  You get the yogurt and toppings by yourself and then pay by the ounce.  Dakota was DONE taking pictures.  Ha.

Encouragement from a Child

When my mom died 14 years ago her body was donated to science,  then cremated.  In the busyness and grief after her death we never got the ashes back from Duke to properly bury her.  Most of the time I am ok with that since I know she is really in Heaven with Jesus, but sometimes I do wish I had "that place". 

Mom loved her job and the people she worked with and they loved her.  Shortly after she died they held a little ceremony and presented us with a bench in her memory.  Since this year is such a big anniversary for me, I wanted to take the kids to the bench for some pictures.  I hadn't been to the site in a long time and I wondered if it would even still be there.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to react emotionally if it was gone.  It was still there and I took some pictures of the kids on it and I read the inscription to Dakota that says, "In Memory of Linda Toy 8/31/54 - 10/19/96".  My heart was sad and I wanted to sit on the bench and cry but something about being a mother made me want to protect my children from seeing me hurt.  At just the right moment, Dakota began tracing the letters in the marble with her little finger and said, "For. God. So Loved. Linda. Toy" and soothed my heart in a way that no tears could.  Yes, baby girl...God does love Linda Toy and I thank you for reminding me of that.  Thank you God for placing such precious words on my daughter's lips at a time I needed it most.

Gardening: More Herbs & Some Green Stuff

We picked up some basil plants at Home Depot and so far have been able to keep them alive.  I've already made some delicious pesto with them and am looking forward to trying some more new recipes.  The rosemary and lemon thyme plants I got from a friend who broke off a sprig from her plants.  I successfully rooted them in cups of water and we transferred them to the dirt this week.  Let's hope they make it!  I was not as successful in rooting her oregano.  I'll try again another time.  We planted the broccoli and lettuce mix from seeds so it is exciting to see them popping up through the soil.  Unfortunately we bought some top soil that seems to have been tainted with something because we now have an immense amount of weeds coming up.  It's sort of frustrating because we don't want to pull anything in fear that it's something we actually planted.  Oh well.  Lesson learned.  The cilantro and cabbage from the earlier post are doing very well.  Hopefully by the end of October I'll be making some stuffed cabbage.

God Stories: Formula

I don't believe in luck, karma, coincidence.  I believe in a loving God who reveals himself to me in the little things and the big things in life.  I want my life to be a testament of His grace and mercy.  Jacob and I have been blown away so many times in our marriage yet we are always surprised when it happens.  I'm not sure why we are surprised, maybe because sometimes we have such little faith...even when He is faithful.  Anyway, I want to share these stories with you as they happen...I might also dig into my memory bank and share some older stories (I've got lots!).  He loves you too and He cares for you as much as He cares for me.  Try looking for the little "wow-moments" in your life.  Maybe you've never noticed them before...but they're there.

So...I went on a trip this past weekend in which I left my children with their Gigi.  My stash of milk for little man has dwindled and I knew I was going to have to buy some formula (for the first time ever) to get him through the weekend.  I made my pre-trip shopping list and set it aside until I could get out of the house.  That VERY afternoon (only a few hours after I made my list but before I went shopping) I went to get the mail and in the mail was a full can of formula!  This was the first sample I have received since Corban was born so it's not like I get them in the mail everyday.  Thank you Enfamil for the sample and for being a channel in which God could make me smile.  That may not be a big deal to you but it was to me :).