Author / Bethe

by Bethe

The baby shower and the quilt debut!

We threw my sister an “April Showers” baby shower last weekend, and I must say it was adorable. But then again, Sarah is a shower-giving pro, so it was fitting that her own shower be extra special.

Most of the credit for this shower goes to my other sister Lindsay, who graciously hosted it at her house and did most of the decorating. My mom and I provided most of the food, and Sarah, even though she was the guest of honor, even helped with some party favors (because she can’t stand to pass up on a good craft project). She also gave us the world’s greatest hostess gifts, I might add.
Lindsay came up with the genius idea of serving drinks in mason jars, because (a) they’re adorable, and (b) they have a lid, which means no spills on her carpet! She just punched a hole in the top of each jar and inserted a straw. She also tied a name card to each drink so guests could label their drink and avoid mix-ups. I may use this idea at every party at my house for the rest of my life, especially once children are involved. Do they make plastic mason jars?

Oh wait, those are called sippy cups.

Since the shower was in the evening, we served a full dinner of chicken salad sandwiches, miniature ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit-kabobs, tomatoes with basalmic, pecans and peaches, various dips, and several desserts for our 30+ guests. Thankfully it was a team effort. 
Here are my sisters: Sarah, the interior designer (and baby Luke), and Lindsay, the Neuro ICU nurse. Unfortunately we’re covering up the adorable burlap bunting that said Luke with rain clouds.

I was lucky enough to have two of my favorite girlfriends (and former bridesmaids) help us celebrate – Andrea and Katie. (Katie’s the one getting my next quilt project, in celebration of her August wedding. And, well, Andrea is pretty much a member of our family.)

Here’s most of our family: Philip (Luke’s baby daddy… and Sarah’s husband), Sarah, me, Lindsay, my mom and dad. It was an all girls’ shower so Mr. Right and Lindsay’s husband Dallas didn’t get to come. Philip and dad came at the end to help load the cars, which we definitely appreciated.

By the way – my sister got a ton of loot at the shower (such sweet friends), but I must admit that I don’t know what most of it is for. Baby things are like foreign objects for me right now… someday I’m going to need a crash course in baby gear.

And finally… drumroll please… here’s my latest project, Luke’s baby quilt! Ta dah! (imagine me using my best attempt at spirit sprinkles or jazz hands)

It was my first attempt at triangles, and I LOVED the process. My current project is another triangle quilt (I think I mentioned my 526 triangles?), but what I love about triangles is the next quilt will look NOTHING like this one – there are so many fun ways to use them.

I also must brag that this is the straightest quilt I’ve ever done – thanks in part to my fancy Janome machine. It’s so much easier, and I’m learning secrets that help me keep things straighter (although if you look closely, you will definitely see mistakes). Instead of sewing this in rows, I patched it together in squares, then bigger squares, and eventually had four big squares that I sewed together. This helped me so that if one part got off, it didn’t affect the rest of the quilt.

This quilt was made using vintage reproduction fabrics from my local quilting specialty shop – they cost a lot more than JoAnn’s, but they were also cute enough to justify the difference. Because of all the reds and whites I chose to prewash all of my fabrics, so this one probably won’t crinkle up as much as my regular quilts. I just couldn’t chance any bleeding colors. Oh… and I did a combination of machine- and hand-stitching on the binding. Sometime soon I’ll experiment with all machine-binding, but I’m still a bit worried about ruining an almost-finished quilt.

Here’s another view of Mr. Right “modeling” the finished product – what a sweet husband:

And the back… my favorite part… it features vintage bicycles and scooters. ***Sigh***

I can’t wait to see Baby Luke use his quilt! I hope that someday he drags it around the house, leaving it a dirty, tattered, well-loved blanket. Because that’s exactly how all quilts should be used… they should be enjoyed and loved.

by Bethe

Baek-il

Last Saturday night Mr. Right and I went to our very first Baek-il – a 100-day birthday celebration for our dear friends’ son Joseph. It’s a Korean tradition that started many years ago, back when babies had a high mortality rate, so making it to 100 days was a sign that your baby was going to live to see adulthood. Which, was worth celebrating!

I just love learning about other cultures – and honestly, I am always looking for an excuse to throw another party – so this was my kind of night. I tried my first Korean food (yum – sushi and egg rolls and glass noodles) and enjoyed seeing some of the authentic Korean costumes and learning about their traditions. I also discovered that Asian pears are ginormous and SO GOOD! I have a mild pear addiction, so this made my whole night.

My favorite part of the party (besides the pears) was the tradition where the baby predicts his future job. Guests were encouraged to bring an item that symbolizes a future career. We brought a bottle of store-brand Benadryl because (a) I bought several on sale recently had an extra bottle sitting in my medicine cabinet, and (b) his mama is a doctor and it would be fitting if he became one too. So, our Benadryl was put out next to a Bible (preacher), a spool of thread (signifies a long life), a $20 bill (wealth or banker), a calculator (mathematician), and a hammer (architect?), and we waited for 3-month-old Joseph to reach for an item that would signify his future career.

However, there was one small problem. 100-day-old babies don’t really perform on command. So we all stood around in a circle, anxiously waiting while he stared blankly at the items, probably thinking that we were a strange group indeed.

Finally, after trying several different positions and a lot of coaxing, he grabbed our Benadryl.

WHICH MEANS WE’RE THE WINNER. WE ARE AWESOME!! (Oh yeah, and he’s going to be a doctor. Probably.)

One other funny story – I was sitting at the dinner table, enjoying my first taste of Korean food, when one of the guests leaned over and asked me, “How does it feel to be the only white people at the party?”

Gotta love blunt people. I told him I hadn’t even noticed. And secretly I have to admit that being a fish out of water is one of my favorite parts of traveling… and teaching ESL… so this was right up my alley. Especially when they’re feeding me.

Don’t be surprised if someday Mr. Right and I adopt this tradition with our own babies. Which, for the record, we’re not expecting anytime soon, even though I got asked AGAIN by a coworker last week if I was pregnant. This time I responded with “Feel how flat my stomach is – I’m doing Crossfit!” I’m done feeling bad when someone asks… I’ve been doing some crazy crunches and I feel good. I know it’s the flowy shirts, but some of them are just too cute to give up (and are in style). 
Speaking of babies, stay tuned for my next post when I reveal my sister’s uber cute baby shower and debut the baby quilt! I’m so excited I could spit.
by Bethe

The Great Camping Trip of 2012

We have been wanting to go camping ever since we got married – I’m not the most outdoorsy girl out there, but I do love a weekend camping trip. There’s just something about sitting in a lawn chair, cooking dinner over an open fire, sleeping under the stars, and peeing behind a tree that just says FUN.
Oh wait, maybe not that last part. But seriously, I LOVE camping. Especially when the camping is so short I don’t have to shower in their facilities. In this case… an 18-hour campout, 45 minutes from our house.
It has taken us two years to find the perfect weekend with the perfect weather for our little adventure, but a few days ago Mr. Right sent me a text that said “How about a campout Friday night?” And the trip was on…
We headed out to Holiday Park at Lake Benbrook, just the two of us, Harley the Wonder Schnoodle, a tent, and a car full of stuff. Mr. Right took care of all of the details (he is such a catch, isn’t he?) and all I had to do was pack an overnight bag. 
We made our way to our little paradise in the woods (Campsite #97… totally worth the $14), quickly put up our tent, set up our gear, and breathed in the beautiful outdoor air.
And just then, a giant van pulled up, and out spilled an entire troop of junior high boy scouts, destined to take the two campsites right next to ours.
It was like my favorite movie, except boys. Eager, excited, extremely awkward boys experiencing their VERY FIRST CAMPOUT EVER! (insert squeals of excitement here) It was so funny to watch them skip around in pure glee over their weekend adventure with the dads.
While the boy scouts were enjoying their hotdogs and chips, my gourmet chef of a husband made us steak, grilled veggies and dessert wontons cooked in our cast iron skillet (filled with nutella and banana… they were outstanding). 
I’ve decided everything tastes better when cooked on an open fire. Especially when it’s cooked by your smoking hot husband. We basked in our cozy steak dinner and turned it into a really special date.
That night, thanks to our new air mattress and my trusty ear plugs (and who are we kidding… a hefty dose of Benadryl), I slept better than I usually do at home. 
The next morning Chef Right whipped up homemade french toast cooked in a cast iron skillet, and french press coffee for each of us (we even do “his” and “hers” coffee when we camp). Again… it was glorious.
Side note: I love how when you camp, it’s perfectly normal to have a roll of toilet paper next to all of your kitchen things. 
Since we were only about 15 minutes from my in-laws’ house, they met us for breakfast. They are so dear to us. 
We finished the camping trip by taking Harley the Wonder Schnoodle on a long walk around the lake, admiring the many spring wildflowers and enjoying the gorgeous weather.
After we packed up the car we decided to swing by to watch Mr. Right’s dad do some roping practice. His hobby is team roping, and I’d never seen him do it before. They’ve got a great set-up that includes a remote-controlled gate to release the cows. He even let me go on a quick ride on his prized horse Pokey. (Yes, I realize that hot pink polka dot running shorts are not exactly appropriate horse riding gear… you can also note that I’m still wearing the same shirt I wore the day before… gotta love camping.)

And then we headed back home for a hot shower and a two hour nap. Which is exactly how I like to end my camping trips.

Stay tuned, it’s a big week on the blog… I’ll tell you about the night when someone asked me, “How does it feel to be the only white person at this party?” And, I’ll debut pictures of my sister’s baby shower and THE baby quilt.

by Bethe

My weekend in Instagram Photos

What a glorious weekend…

Friday night Mr. Right and I met his family for a dinner on the patio at Piola. If you live in Fort Worth, you need to visit their patio. One of the best in town.

After dinner Mr. Right and I walked around downtown and visited one of our favorite spots – the new TCC downtown campus. It’s romantic and has gorgeous architecture, and for some reason there is never anybody there at night. It’s a great date spot.

(Full disclosure: Mr. Right gets the photo credit for these Friday night pictures)
Then Saturday morning, I did that thing that every naturally blonde girl likes to do… I spent my morning at the hair salon… getting blonder. 
When I came home, Mr. Right had whipped up a lunch of grilled chicken with homemade avocado butter and fresh fruit drizzled with honey. Other husbands do this, yes?  He had also prepped all of our food for dinner AND prepped the two dishes I needed to bring to Easter the following day. What a guy.
Later that evening we hosted dear friends over for a cookout and then went to a movie. I must say that I swoon anytime I see Mr. Right at the grill. And my stomach growls. He made us homemade fry bread (dipped in mashed black beans and honey) and chicken kabobs with grilled veggies and pineapple. 
I think he missed his calling… he should host a Christian cooking show.
Sunday was Easter… and I am a terrible person for not taking A SINGLE PICTURE. It was a hectic day – getting up at the crack of dawn to fix our dishes, rushing to church (which was glorious – I love our church), rushing home to change and then rushing to my parents’ house for a big meal. For people who work at churches (like Mr. Right) Easter is the biggest work day of the year, so he had to miss half of our lunch, and by the time we got home we were both exhausted and took long naps. 
So no pictures, even though we had a wonderful time with my side of the family AND my wonderful in-laws, who joined us. We had so many opportunities to take a picture, and it would have been perfect seeing as my sister is adorably pregnant and I have not a single picture with her since she’s been showing. But no… all I got was this…

This is a picture of the leftover strawberry pie we made for Easter… that I finished off mid-morning on Monday while sitting at my desk at work. Mr. Right sent it with me so I could share it with my coworkers… but instead I ate all of it myself. But in my defense, it wasn’t THAT big of a piece.

by Bethe

Well, duh

I can’t wait to debut pictures of my new baby quilt. But alas, it’ll have to wait until after I give it to my sister on Sunday. It has to be a surprise (even though I broke down and showed her all the fabrics the same day I bought them).

On Saturday I started my best girlfriend’s wedding quilt, which I hope to give to her at her EARLY June shower (gulp – another fast tracked quilt – I can do this!). I will be a quilting fool for the next six weeks.

I may explode with excitement over this pattern… and the fabric. I think I want to make the same exact quilt for myself after I finish hers. It’s going to kill me to not show you all my handiwork as I go, but seeing as Katie reads this blog (Hi Katie! Love you!), I’m going to have to keep this one under wraps.

My only hint… it involved me cutting out 526 triangles. Whew. And now I’m in the process of piecing all those triangles together into a pattern that makes me just want to squeal.

(There, I just squealed on the inside.)

As I was in the middle of cutting my 526 triangles and catching up on all my favorite TV shows on Hulu (and when I ran out of favorites, I just watched anything else I’d ever heard of), I had an aha moment.

The hardest part of quilting is cutting fabric. Especially when you buy five yards of the same fabric and the fabric is bigger than your cutting board. It’s so hard to keep your cuts straight! And I hate to make arbitrary cuts to make the fabric small enough to fit it on my cutting board, as you end up with wasted “ends” that could have been used for the next piece.

And then it hit me. When you buy yards of fabric, it comes folded in half. I’m supposed to KEEP IT FOLDED IN HALF as I cut it (hand to forehead). The it fits beautifully on my rulered cutting board. Oh my goodness, why did it take me four years of quilting to figure this out?

I’m an idiot. My husband laughed at me when I excitedly told him my revelation. Because, really, isn’t it obvious to everybody but me?

(But just in case you haven’t figured it out either… give it a try! Plus, cutting your fabric while folded in half means you cut twice as many pieces at once… the first 25% of my cuts took me a whole day… the last 75% of my cuts took me just a few hours.) 


THIS IS LIFE CHANGING PEOPLE.

by Bethe

DIY Ruffled Table Runner

Lately anytime I have a day off from work, I spend it locked in my craft room, creating things. 

It makes my heart so happy. 
Good Friday was no exception. I finished my nephew’s baby quilt A WHOLE WEEK EARLY. Typically I finish quilts around midnight the night before I give them away, but my sister’s baby shower isn’t until next weekend, so I had time to spare. This was my fastest quilt yet… I started it March 10 and finished it April 6. I can’t WAIT to show you pictures of this adorable quilt made from vintage baby fabrics and featuring some of the straightest lines I’ve ever sewn. It was like a quilting miracle. I think it’s my fancy new machine.
Now I just have to wait two more months until I can see Baby Luke use his new quilt. Gah, I am so excited to meet him.
But I digress… I finished the baby quilt and still had some spare time so I decided to whip up a spring table runner from some old burlap I found on sale last Christmas. I also had some old white linen ruffles lying around that were leftover from my ruffled Christmas tree decorations. 
I thought about sewing the ruffles on the ends of the burlap, but I felt like it needed more color. That’s when I found this gorgeous green and berry fabric from my stash that needed a good home. And so I did this:
To learn how to sew a ruffle, you can watch this video and look at the first technique. However, I only made one line of stitching on my ruffles instead of her two. (Shhh… don’t tell anybody but it was incredibly easy – but to impress folks we’ll act like it was really complicated.)
To make my table runner, I simply laid my patterned fabric over a wider burlap backing and then hand stitched the ruffle over the place where the two fabrics met, conveniently hiding the raw seams. My stitches were loose and messy, hidden by the very forgiving ruffle, and weren’t required to be very strong since it will simply sit on top of my table – durability isn’t a big deal. I could have sewn this on my machine but I didn’t want the rough burlap to dull my needle.
I then stitched my ruffle to the other side and frayed the edges of the burlap. About one hour after I started my project, I had this: 

It’s a perfect fit for our beloved rustic barn table. Pottery Barn has a similar table (but not as cool as ours) for almost $2,000. I think Mr. Right paid $100 for his. I fell in love with the table (which features a frame made from real oxen yokes and handmade chairs) even before I started dating him… and now I have both!
Sometimes you’re just lucky like that.
by Bethe

My garden has been alive for a whole week

If Martha Stewart were a rockstar flower and vegetable grower, I would be her… times seven.
Yes, that’s how awesome I am at growing things right now. And I’m not talking about growing mold in my refrigerator at work, although I’m sort of awesome at that too. No, I’m talking about the vegetable garden I planted last week. Here’s the picture of our sweet little vegetables and herbs on the day we planted them:
And here’s a picture of the same plants just one week later. Oh my word, it’s like they’re on steroids or something (I promise they would pass an unannounced drug test, unlike most of my favorite former Texas Rangers). I really can’t believe I didn’t kill them – I kill everything. 
One week down… a whole spring and summer to go. Come on little plants, you can do it! Be strong for mama!

Since I’ve turned into such a master gardener overnight (I see you rolling your eyes…) I decided to go crazy and plant flowers in our front flower bed. I went wild and bought wave petunias in my favorite color… pink. (I’d rather plant something more exotic, but I’m a realist… petunias are the easiest things to keep alive.) We’ll see if they make it a full week like my vegetables.
I also bought a Bourgainvillea. When I was in the South of France a few years back these things grew to be HUGE – they took up entire balconies overlooking the Mediterranean. I’ll be happy if this little gal lives to see May (I had one a few years back and she died and rose from the dead several times over the course of a summer). 
She was a bit of a splurge – $34.99 at Calloways. I didn’t see a price tag, and when they rang up I was too much in love to put her back. She’s hanging on our back porch so I can enjoy her through my kitchen window. 

And of course I can’t leave out my tulips… a “just because” gift from Mr. Right on Friday. He knows that I love to keep pops of yellow flowers in our house, because they remind me of our wedding. 
 

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8

by Bethe

I have a confession…

My fellow blog friends, I have a confession…

Remember these beautiful and tasty cupcakes that Mr. Right and I made Sunday night?

You know the ones… with the homemade chocolate-banana icing… that happen to taste better served cold from the refrigerator? Ahh yes, now you remember.

Well last night I may have hit a new low. Mr. Right was working late up at the church, and after taking care of about a dozen chores, working on my nephew’s quilt and doing three loads of laundry, I decided to end the night with a bubble bath and a magazine. Possibly one of the most delightful ways to end an evening.

To make it even better, I had one last chocolate-banana cupcake left in the fridge, and I decided to eat it as I ran my bath.

But then true tragedy struck. As I was walking back to my kitchen to grab a glass of water, eating my beloved cupcake and waiting for my water to fill the tub, I dropped my cupcake. Icing-side-down.

And what did I do? I picked it up, and before I could even see if it had collected any dust or unmentionables from my kitchen floor (which, in my defense, was mopped less than a week ago), I stuck it in my mouth. Kitchen floor germs and all.

After I ate it I felt a little guilty. But you know what? I’d do it all over again. The cupcake was worth it.

by Bethe

Women’s Dinner

My sweet church hosted a women’s dinner for 600+ women this week.  Here’s the recap of this wonderful, chocolate and big-jewelry-filled evening:
1. The men of our church served the women. They dressed up, donned black aprons and acted as waiters, graciously serving their women so that we could feel doted on. Mr. Right volunteered, and I may be a bit biased, but I think he looked mighty handsome carrying that pitcher of ice tea.
2. Our church invited my ESL ladies to attend. For free. And so many of our members came by to welcome them and tell them how happy they were that they chose to join us. 
3. Some of our ESL students come from cultures where a man would NEVER serve a woman. So this dinner blew their mind. It was a great testimony, and they felt so very special. It’s nights like this, where they feel loved on, that softens their hearts to hear and accept the gospel.
4. Our church took up a collection to pay for textbooks for our English students for next semester. We almost cried when we found out – they had kept it as a surprise from us. Textbooks are very expensive and most of our students have very little money – so this is a huge deal.
Thanks to First Euless for investing in women. And thanks to the women who chose last night to invest in our English students. 
“And I pray that you… may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  – Ephesians 3:18-19

by Bethe

Weekend hodge-podge

Sometimes in the heat of a Texas August I wonder why I choose to live in such a boiling hot state. As my bare legs sear themselves with the blaze of my SUV’s leather seats and I finally give up and settle on a ponytail for weeks on end to keep my long hair off my sticky neck, I fantasize about moving to the mountains with their cool nights and everlasting breezes.
But then we have a weekend like this past one, and I’m reminded of why I continue to stay. Because there’s nothing more beautiful than an 80 degree March day.
I spent the entire weekend outside basking in the glorious weather. Friday I joined with a local nonprofit that I serve as a board member for, and 1,300 of us fixed up about 30 houses in our community. I did what I do best… paint. Actually, I also scraped and learned to caulk, and then primed – which is like painting. I got dirty and sunburned, ate TWO hotdogs and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Later that night I got gussied up and went on a double date with dear friends and fellow newlyweds Randy and Lori. Oh, and Mr. Right and I made a slight detour to the bicycle shop to get me a basket for my beloved cruiser. 
I took my bike-and-basket on a test drive Saturday, and as soon as my tushy hits that extra-wide seat I transformed into an 8-year-old version of my self, enjoying the sweet freedom that a bike can bring as the wind blows through my hair. If only Harley the Wonder Schnoodle could fit in that basket.
Saturday we spent the whole day working inside/outside our house, with the windows open and the smells of spring washing out the staleness of winter. We planted our very first vegetable and herb container garden on the back porch – we spent $140 so that we can save money on tomatoes and jalapenos and poblanos at the grocery store. But it will all be worth it if our rosemary takes off, as that’s the secret ingredient to our sweet potato fries. For the past year we’ve been stealing (with his permission) from our neighbor’s rosemary plant, and I love it when the smell of a fresh piece fills our kitchen. We also tried cilantro and sweet basil and maybe another thing or two that I can’t remember at the moment – I’m too busy thinking about that rosemary.
And now I will start praying and laying hands on these vegetables, hoping that they can survive my black thumb and live to see a fruitful harvest. Please.
We also did some major spring cleaning – cleaning out the garage, putting things in the attic, cleaning out hall closets and washing windows. I got dirty and sunburned, drank decaf ice tea and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
That night we joined Mr. Right’s family for a birthday party at Joe T’s and then sat outside on a patio in the trendy part of Fort Worth and enjoyed ice cream and the warm night air. 
Speaking of food, Sunday night we went over to our dear friends’ house and brought these:

 Our world-famous chocolate cupcakes with homemade chocolate-banana frosting, Mr. Right’s super secret recipe invention. As good as these cupcakes look in the picture, let me assure you that they taste 10 times better. To save us from temptation he brought the leftovers to work today to give away, but rest assured I managed to snag a few for my freezer to save for a future rainy day.

I wish all my weekends could be like this one.