HybridizationingsMix-ins, Notions, and Plugins of our Lives

I designed and finished the wolf pack cross stitch. I think I mentioned before that I was working on it. And my parents got me a cross stitch of a salmon while they were in Alaska on a cruise. It was really sweet of them, and I really like the pattern. Here are the pictures.

The next thing on my list is to frame the two Twilight cross stitches and get some good pictures taken. But I’m having a hard time figuring out how to frame them. They are so different so I don’t want to frame them like a group.  Any ideas??? And I’m also looking for some ideas on what to put in the background.

Contemporary. A fun blog that I follow Good Day Sunshine had a post about Sproost.com. I took their quiz and found out I am 44% Rustic Revival, 44% Nantucket Style, and 12% French Eclectic. Here’s what I like:

And Michael is 100% Contemporary. There is no wavering with him. Here is what he likes:

So I like old, and he likes new…How are we going to stay together? Our kids will be so messed up.

but no baby! But rest easy knowing that we are working on that. We have some really exciting things planned for the next couple of months to help us get pregnanat. But this is what we have been working on for the past week. I saw the cutest baby room on BHG.com and drew my inspiration from that. Not knowing if we will end up with a boy or girl we had to keep it nuetral. But I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

I would love to now decorate it and put up a bunch of things on the walls and on top of the little ledge all around the room, BUT… I’m going to wait. Wait until I’m pregnant and enjoy the nesting experience. But here is that inspiration room I was telling you about.

I saw this video a couple days ago and I have been cracking up inside whenever I think about it. I know…I have baby on the brains but this is still funny.

I’ve been cross stitching a lot since I went to visit my Grandma Hanson in Arizona last January. She taught me to cross stitch when I was a girl, and I was reminded that I enjoy it. I think it is something about keeping my hands busy. I’ve made a couple of my own designs and I’ll admit that I’m wondering what it would be like to launch my own business of fun, new cross stitch patterns. Here’s what I’ve got so far.

Motherhood. I found this really great, colorful painting my Julie Ryan and asked her permission to make it into a cross stitch. I think it turned out really cute. She has a ton of other ideas that would make fun patterns, but for now I’m working on some time sensative projects….

With the next Twilight movie coming out in November and the fact that it is hugely popular, I thought that if anyone was going to buy a Twilight inspired cross stitch kit it would be now. I have another design for the wolf pack that I am anxious to start. Just waiting for the materials to be delivered.

I didn’t make this pattern, but I did pick it up a year ago at the Mount Vernon gift shop in Washington DC. We went there for our 5 Year Anniversary, and I thought that it would make a great souvenir of our trip. AND…it got me thinking about other locations that people visit and how they might want to do a cross stitch to remember their trip…Las Vegas comes to mind.

So there you have it. I’ve been a boring, home body, doing nothing but cross stitching. No, I haven’t gone to the gym, yes, I’ve neglected my church callings, yes I am socially retarded and haven’t been a good friend. But you know what, I’m happy and that should count for something.

I love HGTV for reminding me how fun day dreaming is. Each year when they come out with their Dream Home, I think about what it would be like to live there, the surrounding area, etc. To date, my favorite was the North Carolina house, but the 2010 home could be even greater. For starters each year Michael and I look at the house and determine what room we could change into the theater room, because it isn’t a dream home for Michael unless it has a theater room. Number 2: it has a Casita with its own bathroom. Number 3: there will be a recycling room which in itself isn’t all that glamorous but just that they are thinking about recycling in their grand design, I wouldn’t be surprised if they incorporate more renewable and recylced additions to the house. I’ll stop there because I want to keep some of the mystery. Here is the floor plan.

1. Three-car garage
2. Motor court
3. Casita with bathroom
4. Recycling room
5. Back patio
6. Kitchen and great room
7. Walk-through pantry
8. Dining room
9. Home office with bathroom
10. Entry hall and foyer
11. His-and-hers walk-in master closet 12. Master bathroom
13. Master suite
14. Sunrise room
15. Home theater
16. Laundry room
17. Second bedroom with walk-in closet and adjoining bathroom
18. Third bedroom with walk-in closet and adjoining bathroom

(So you are welcome to dream and drool, but when the time comes, THIS WILL BE MY HOUSE.)

Michael’s other sister also had a baby. Gabriella Diane Ortiz was born on May 14th. She was 6 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. We are very excited for Candace, Wardo, and Alyssa for their new baby.

Ok, I am way late on this, but I am really excited to announce the birth of my new nephew Damon Joshua MacPeek!! He was born April 9th and was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well and I can’t wait to see them.

Last weekend we took a fun, spontaneous trip to St. Louis to visit the growing Katzoff family. It was the perfect weekend, because we wanted to get away, see friends, and relax. We got to see baby Lotus, and Taj is a growing little man with SOOOOO much energy. And of course it was so fantastic to see Ben & Denae. We wish they lived closer to us, or we lived closer to them, whatever, just closer.

We ate really good BBQ, saw the St. Louis Arch, ate sushi, drove to Bloomington, IL, (the most coolest place on the planet!) went to the City Museum, and just plain old hung out.

The City Museum was sooo cool! If you are every anywhere near the St. Louis area you should plan on going. Made from an old shoe factory, it is unlike anything you have ever seen.

Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike.

Go here for more information and pictures. But here are some other pictures:

Here are some pictures that I got online that were taken during the daytime.

I repeat, this is not a book club. However, I just wanted to put it out there that I began reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. And if anyone else wants to read it at the same time as me, it would be really fun to talk about it. I’m only 3 chapters in and I really enjoy it.

The reason I say that this is not a book club, is because the last book club was so much work! I’m sorry to be a humbug, but it was. But it has been a few months (maybe even close to a year now) that the McCullough Hills Ward Book Club met, and I’m craving some literary talk but not at the expense of the weight of responsibility for a book club. There are some people who have asked me about starting it up again, and I’m sorry to disappoint, but this is my sanity we are talking about, and thus this is my compromise.

(Ironic in the context of the theme of Atlas Shrugged that I am shirking the responsibility of a book club.)