New Blog

Thanks for stopping by! I have started a new blog.

ToBeHisWife.blogspot.com

Over there you can find me blogging about all kinds of wifely things like cooking, homemaking and even looking good for my husband. Hope you enjoy!

It is Official!

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The Proposal

The Morgans invited me to join their family on vacation for a week up north. I really appreciated being included and I was very excited because I had never been up north before.

On Sunday August 8th Dan came over to my house early in the morning so we could drive up together. His family wouldn't be leaving for several more hours. Anyway, Dan woke me up and helped me get my stuff in his car. Then we drove. Well, he drove. I slept.

We got to the cottage at Thumb Lake around noon, unloaded all our stuff and did a bit of paddle boating. Then we headed to Petosky in search of food. We used the GPS to figure out what was in the area and finally ended up in a quiet mexican restaurant. It was a good choice.

Neither one of us can remember exactly what order things happened after lunch, but we did some shopping, we got custard (delicious!) and we searched for a gas station. Dan drove up and down the road several times while I pointed out gas stations. Every time he would say something like, "I am on the wrong side of the road" or "Just missed it, we'll keep driving". Eventually we did stop and fill up.

It never occurred to me that Dan actually knew this area really well. I think it partly had to do with the fact that Dan almost exclusively uses Mobile gas stations and we did in fact end up at a Mobile station. If he had stopped somewhere else I would have perhaps wondered what all the driving was about. 

So, by now it is getting later in the evening and I thought we were going to just head back to the cottage. Little did I know that all that driving around was just a ruse to pass time so the sun could get a little lower in the sky! All of a sudden Dan just decides to pull into this park and get out of the car. I just followed him. After a short walk we came to a nice grassy spot under a birch tree on the shore of Little Traverse Bay. The sun was setting as we stood there together. We were both quiet, just taking in the beauty of God's creation. After a bit we sat down and just continued being together. I remember feeling incredibly content and happy  being with Dan. I had really enjoyed our whole day together.

After awhile Dan and I did exchange a few words. Here again neither one of us remembers what exactly was said... except for one thing is for sure... Dan asked me to marry him. I think I just stared at him for a minute without saying anything. Even though I knew in my head and my heart that I wanted to marry Dan, I was now face to face with the decision and I really didn't feel ready for it at all. I wasn't expecting the proposal for maybe another month and I was in my sweatshirt and I hadn't done a thing to my hair or put any make-up on all day. This was not my idea of a proposal. Not that I even had much of an idea what that was... but it just wasn't this. After a little prompting from Dan I did say "yes". I knew even if I didn't feel like it at this moment that I did want to marry him and I didn't want to hurt his feelings (he was so very nervous, he could barely get the words out! and he had actually put a lot of planning in to the timing. and he had succeeded in surprising me, which is really difficult!).

Afterwards I was feeling really disappointed, scared and homesick. Later that night I shared my feelings with Dan. I even told him that I mostly said yes because I didn't want to hurt his feelings and that I had really felt like asking for more time to think. He let me know that he wanted me to be comfortable with the decision, that we didn't have to tell anyone until I was ready and that he would even ask me again if he needed to. I walked away for a few minutes. When I came back I felt much calmer and asked Dan to ask me again.

I expected him to just ask me right then and there. Instead he insisted that I follow him down to the dock on the lake. It is about 1 am at this time. It is pitch black outside and we are basically in the middle of nowhere. I really did not want to walk down those stairs to the lake. Every little movement and sound startled me. Once we got down the stairs Dan carried me over the sand on to the dock.

We walked to the end of the dock, sat down together and looked up at one of the most amazing views ever. I don't think I have ever seen so many stars! It was beyond beautiful. As we gazed at the stars Dan talked to me. This time he  wasn't a bit nervous. He recounted memorable events from our relationship. He told me how he loved me. All of me. And then... after a good long time... and at least three shooting stars... then he asked me again, "Will you marry me?"

This time I was most ready and I replied, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, I will marry you."


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The Ring

I asked Dan not to propose to me with a ring, reasoning that I wanted to marry him not the jewelry. And anyway, we had something else besides a ring in mind for our outward symbol of engagement...

As soon as we got home from vacation we went out and got my nose pierced. It hurt. It really hurt. Dan was exceptionally sweet and held my hand... I mean had his hand squeezed half to death...through the experience. It was all worth it to both of us. We love my new piercing and feel it seals our agreement to get married.

After we get it sized I will be wearing my Mimi's (My grandmother whom I was very close to and miss immensely ever since she passed away several years ago.) engagement ring to make it easier for the general public to understand that I am in fact engaged.


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A few thoughts...

I was completely unprepared for the rush of confusing feelings that hit me when Dan proposed. I didn't expect their would be any hesitation. If I had allowed my feelings to take over I know the consequences could have been much worse than a simple momentary hesitation. I could have said no and lost the man that I truly love. I am so very glad that I have a solid foundation for my relationship that goes much deeper than mere affections.

I feel so blessed that Dan is willing to try and understand me. That he respects me even when he doesn't understand. That he is patient with me. That he always puts forth his best effort. That he is willing to do something over and over again until he gets it right. And so much more! I am so very blessed that Dan loves me and really wants to spend the rest of his life with me. Thank you God for Dan and for our very unperfect real life love.

So there is the story of how I was proposed to. It is not movie like. There were no roses or diamond ring. Dan didn't even get down on one knee. But that is all fine with me. I love Dan. I love our real life together. I wouldn't trade this life for a hundred perfect lives. I am tremendously excited to be officially engaged to marry my best friend and lover Daniel Morgan.

I am really bad with titles. I am not going to stress myself out about that anymore. See, no title for this post!

I lost my job today.

I am terribly emotional about this.

YES, I KNOW God has a plan. I don't doubt that. But I still mourn the loss.

I was working as a Nanny. I don't think I am at liberty to talk about the situation. I was able to meet with my agency today and talk with my boss. She helped me to feel a bit better about what happened and assured me that she doesn't think any less of me and will certainly try and give me a new placement.

I am losing several thousand dollars because of this, but the bigger reason it has me so upset is because of the children. I don't even know if I will ever get to see them again. I don't know what they were told. I can only imagine how upset they will be. I really enjoyed spending time with them. They adored me. We were looking forward to the rest of the summer together. Now we don't even get to say goodbye.

Existence after death

may not matter as much as the fact that we cease to exist in this world.

This life is going too fast.

Way too fast.

Seriously. At least 20% of my life is over. Yes, I am still young. But I am not going to stay that way very long. And I am increasingly more and more aware of that.

There is so much I want to do! There is simply not enough time to pack it all in to one life.

I used to be almost obsessed with just wanting to die. I used to think this life so pointless. I am not exactly sure what has made the change, but now I want to live.

I am not sure if I am afraid of dying or not. I know that it is supposed to be amazingly good. But still... I feel like I would miss a lot here.

I don't like having a job (or five... I don't even know how many jobs I have right now). I just want to be a wife and mom. That is all I ever really wanted. I can do sewing and photography on the side. But I don't want those things to take over my life.

Right now work is taking over living. It must be that way for now if I am going to have a future, but then work is sucking up my present life.

ok. sum up. I learned that there are some things in this life that I really love. I want to be able to enjoy those things. I don't think there will ever be enough time to enjoy these things until death (free of pain/work). But then... do these things exist in death?

New Shop for my Photography!

I just set up an Etsy shop for my fine art prints. I am soo happy with how the shop is looks. Here are a few of my photos. I can't say favorites, because I love all the photos I listed! 

I worked on these images Jan-May by visiting local conservatories. I shot all the images with a fixed length macro lens. It was my first time shooting with macro and I really enjoyed it!

Part of what gives my photos such a unique look is my post process. I used this thing called textures in photoshop. I got the textures from Obsidian Dawn (and have since purchases a license to be able to use the textures commercially). I really love a lot of the neat stuff available for photoshop at Obsidian Dawn.

Alright! Here is a link to my photo shop AdrianMorganPhoto.etsy.com

Thanks for looking!

Eating Update

FAIL

Decluttering

This is something that I am more than simply unskilled at. The need to declutter paralyzes me. It ruins my whole day.  I know I need to do it so I am constantly on the edge. I can't really focus on anything else... yet I can't just declutter.  I wish I could. I waste so much time almost cleaning.  

3,000 cal/day - Week 1

Alright, so I saw a nutritionist a little more than a week ago. She helped me with some ideas of what foods to eat. We decided to start me at 3,000 calories a day. Ah! Before last week I don't know if I had ever eaten that much in one day. So, she suggested that I eat 500 calories 6 times a day. Wow. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. 

Eating smaller amounts more often makes the actual eating much more manageable. But that doesn't solve the time issue. If I am going to fit in what I need I must eat no more than 3 hours apart. Preferably closer to 2 hours. This means I spend a lot of time just preparing food, eating and cleaning up. It feels like by the time I finish eating one meal/snack it is time for the next one. 

I am learning more about food. Getting to know how much calories certain items have in them. Ice cream is not really my friend. Only 150 cal per half cup. Cheesecake is better at almost 500 cal per slice. Nuts are high in calories. I have added avocado to my tacos and taquitos.  Oh oh! I drink a lot more juice. Easy way to add 100 cal. 

 So anyway, all said and done I had some really successful days last week and some fail days. By the end of the week my stomach was feeling kinda sick. Hopefully that was simply because it wasn't used to the volume of food it was processing. 

Speeding

Speeding doesn't actually get me anywhere significantly sooner. It is just one way I handle stress. I have been pretty darn good lately about not speeding. Just now though I was going 70mph down the back dirt roads.

Bad day. Very unproductive day.

Also, if I was in dislike with this preposterous photography class before I am pretty much hating it now.

Comfy Pants

I pretty much have a complete hate relationship with jeans right now. They are just so darn uncomfortable. So I fell in love with yoga pants. I got a pair for Christmas and I ordered another pair a few months later. Still, I wanted more. Because hey, when they are the only thing you want to wear two pairs is simply not enough.

Well, my boyfriend pretty much forbid me from purchasing any more. He said also said that if I wanted more I would have to make them myself. What?! That doesn't even make sense to me. Yesss, I am pretty sure I am capable of making my own, but it is just easier to click online and have them show up at my doorstep. 

So for a couple weeks I contemplated just going ahead and purchasing another pair. Then finally I decided I'd at least try and make a pair myself. I stopped by Joann's to look for the appropriate fabric. I found none. I went online. SpandexWorld.com They have a world of stretchy fabric. After a bit of research I found the suitable fabric and put in my order. And then tada, a few days later it was at my door. The acquired fabric was exactly what I needed! Yay! I heart shopping online!

Of course I washed and dried the fabric first and then I set out to make my pattern. Yeah that is right, I didn't use a purchased pattern. k. So I took the last pair of yoga pants that I had bought and sorta carefully traced them on some old wrapping paper. Added some seam allowances. Cut it out. Laid out fabric. Pinned on brand new pattern. Cut it all out. Then after a bit of pinning and sewing I had my new pants. 

Yesss! I did it! I made my very own pair of yoga pants! It wasn't really as difficult as I thought it would be and the pants turned out really awesome. They look and fit just the ones I copied them from. 

-insert photo of me and my awesome new pants here-

You may have noticed there is no actual photo above.  Well, there is a reason for that. Just trust me. ;-)

I do my best to comply with my boyfriend's wishes even when I don't understand. I'd say in most cases this turns out for the better. In this case it certainly did. I actually enjoyed the experience, plus the pants cost about half as much as buying an equal pair. I might never buy another pair again.

Death... Again...

Right now my Aunt is in the hospital being kept alive by a ventilator. They are going to let her die on Monday. It is really hitting hard some of the people closest to me. My mom for one. Becky is her sister after all. Also my cousin Matt. I don't even know what to tell him. No matter what the circumstances have been, that is his mom he is losing. I can't even imagine how difficult this is for him.

I don't like having to deal with death again. It is a reminder of loss and what I don't have here on earth. 

Eating...

Well... I saw a nutritionist a couple days ago. She actually had the same surgery I am looking at getting. So that was neat to talk about. Anyway, we are gonna start with eating 500calories 6x/day = 3,000 calories/day. When it is broken up into those smaller segments it seems more doable.

Buuuut. It is like I just finish eating and then before I know it I have to eat again. In fact... it has already been two hours since I last ate. So I gtg.

Bite Me

I have an open bite. Basically this means my front teeth don't come together. Which puts a lot of pressure on my back teeth, causing me to grind my teeth at night and get exceptionally horrid headaches. The problem also makes it quite difficult to eat. I can't bite all the way through anything. This is incredibly frustrating. I really like my teeth, they are nice and straight, but the bite is messed up. It is bad enough to warrant surgery. A proper bite would be highly beneficial to my health for the rest of my life.

Getting surgery means that I would have my mouth wired shut for about two months afterwords. Which means that I absolutely must gain weight beforehand. I would need to gain at least 20lbs. Far easier said than done. 

You see, for me I can't just down a few extra milkshakes and gain the weight in a month or two. My body doesn't work that way. Maybe yours and 95% of the population's does work that way. But mine doesn't. 

I have a problem called hypermetabolism. That means my body processes food at an amazing rate and to compensate I have to eat a tremendous amount of calories to even being gaining weight. That tremendous amount is around 5,000 calories daily. I can't even comprehend that much. I really don't know how to fit it all in. If you are thinking this is a problem you would like to have, you are dead wrong. This is atrocious. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

On top of that I don't really like to eat.  My dislike for eating isn't something I can "just get over".  Our modern food is so processed and so filled with chemicals that I cringe at putting it in my body.  Furthermore, eating takes so much time and energy. Time and energy that I feel is better spent on other things in life. I feel guilty of wasting time when I spend it on food. Sure, for a few weeks at time I can push myself to eat upwards of 2,000 calories daily. But it is a lot of work and I never have anything to show for all that work, so why put in the effort?

As if all of this needed anything else added to it, it seems like the world is fighting against me. Most people are obsessed with losing weight and being thin. They can't even comprehend how anyone would actually need, much less want, to gain a few pounds.  I represent to them the epitome of what they want to be. The idea that I might need to actually be heavier is to them unfathomable. They often feel (and make remarks to show) that I am flaunting my thinness in their face when I eat in front of them. Actually, I have even gotten remarks without being anywhere near food. People just can't stand thin people. They probably don't mean to be snide, but it hurts that practically no one understands how difficult this truly is. 

Thankfully, my parent's are finally realizing I have a legitimate problem and that I need outside help. I checked out some books on anorexia (I don't exactly have anorexia, but I am coming from a similar place as someone who does), read some, and then talked to my dad about seeing a nutritionist.  My parent's don't have the time to figure how to help me, and I can't help myself. To my great amazement my dad actually gave me permission to see a nutrition counselor and even helped me find one under our insurance and in our area!  Today I called and set up an appointment.  It means so much to me to finally have my parents  support (and my boyfriend's, because I talked to him as well and he was also surprisingly supportive).

Green Apples and Hearts

Ooooook. Well. After my boyfriend remarked that my hair smelled like a hotel, without even knowing that I used shampoo from a hotel, I decided to go ahead and purchase some new hair washing products. I bought some basic shampoo and conditioner in green apple scent from Suave. It smells really yummy! Plus, it was only about a dollar a bottle. That is worth it. So much for my experiments. ahahaha.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day. Dan and I aren't doing anything special. But he did just ask me to be his valentine and I said yes! =) Thennnn I asked if he would be my valentine and guess what!? He said yes!!! Mmmm. I love my Dan. 

My daddy got me some Ghirardelli chocolates for valentines day. He gave them to me on Wednesday because he is on a trip for like five days or something. Anyway, the chocolate is amazing! I am a bit of a chocolate snob. I eat chocolate everyday, so it is nice to have some great quality. I also felt loved that my dad noticed this about me and didn't get me something cheaper. Yes, in this case spending a little extra really did show he cares.

Catch Me and Stand Me Still

    So called photographers are ever abundant in our modern world. With cameras easily available to nearly everyone it is rare that anyone really catches my discerning eye. Sure plenty of people will keep me looking for a moment, but the one who keeps me coming back again and again must be skilled indeed. Last year at the Ann Arbor Art Fair I happened upon one of these skilled photographers. His name is Michael Bryant.

    Michael hails from Atlanta, GA and was inspired to take photographs after being exposed to the art museums of Europe.  Since 1998 Michael has won dozens of awards for his photography.  So what are his pictures like anyway? Well, to start he uses the Holga, a camera originally intended for the masses. He could take similar images with any film camera, or take them digitally and alter them in photoshop. But the uniqueness of each Holga gives his images an other worldly feel that he really wouldn't be able to obtain any other way. Plus, it adds something powerful to each photo knowing that it was all done in camera.

    Michael mostly photographs big city landmarks. Things everyone has seen time and time again, but he truly puts them in a new light.  In my opinion Michael's double and multiple exposure images are his best.  I am not even sure how to explain these images (for this reason I have included one of his photos at the end of this paper). They are  abstract fantasy, yet concrete reality at the same time. Buildings floating in the sky just like they could have always been there.

    His work is nothing like my own, indeed nothing like I have ever seen before. I think that is what keeps me looking. He is different, unique. An especially difficult thing to be in our image saturated world.  In his own words, "When I look at a finished piece and for a split second, time stops and I hear my heart beating - I am unable to breathe and I am aware only of the piece and how it makes me feel. Then, I know that I succeeded." Ah yes, for that quiet moment in time when nothing else exists but you and art.

 

www.michael-bryant.com

And Life Goes On...

Yesterday after school I was really stressed. Dan had special training for work all day, which meant I didn't get to see him at school. Normally wouldn't be so bad. but... I had to be in Sociology all by myself. Pretty much that feels like a battle ground because I have a different opinion than everyone else in the class. Really made me appreciate Dan even more, but I was still feeling down. So after class I dragged my wounded self over to Dan's house. 

He had bought me some amazing pasta and a smoothie! Mmmm. Filled my tummy. =) But alas... the four papers and two exams and various other assignments I had coming up were really really getting to me. No matter how hard Dan tried to cheer me up.  Even after playing Little Big Planet for 2 hours, which did in fact make me smile, I still couldn't shake off the stress.

So today I went to school and dropped one of my classes. I didn't need it for anything. I was just taking it because I thought it would be interesting, but it was turning in to a nightmare. Wayyyy too much homework and the textbook was gibberish. I wasn't able to get a refund for the class and I will now have a "W" on my transcript, but it won't affect my GPA. 

I am trying to take more control of my life. Do things that matter to me and make me happy. This is one of them. In the grand scheme of things it isn't going to matter that I dropped a class. It is going to matter that I was less stressed. Stress isn't healthy. I am going to use the "extra" time to focus on things I want to do.  My happiness is totally worth it. I am much much more content following the path I know I am supposed to take. Hopefully now I will be able to get a better handle on my schedule and find some time for sewing! Other things I am putting in more time for include eating right and working out.

Cheap Date

Dan and I are together a lot, but we don't often to get to really spend leisure time together.  We don't really have any extra spending money, so when it comes to dates... well, they usually just don't happen!  But at this point, I really needed one, so I was looking for something interesting and economical to do together when I remembered that my library participates in a museum program where you get to check out a special pass that waives the entrance fee to several area museums. So, yesterday we stopped by my local library and decided on the Ford Rouge Factory Tour.

Neither one of us really knew anything about it, but it was something to do, and it was was free. ;-) Since Dan's dad happens to work near the Rouge Factory we visited him at his office and had lunch with him and several other lawyers. It was nice to see Mr. Morgan's office as I had never been there before. After lunch we headed over to The Henry Ford for the tour.

You have to take a bus ride from The Henry Ford Museum over to The Rouge. Once we got to the factory we watched a 15min video on the history of the factory (probably my favorite part). Then we were ushered into another room with half a dozen or more screens surrounding the room and watched a "multi-sensory" video on vehicle production. It was interesting, but also probably the creepiest car movie I have ever seen! It came of as creepy mostly because the tense music. Anyway, it sure was an experience.

After this we left the group and viewed some of the historical cars produced at the factory. When we eventually made it up to the actual factory part of the tour we found out that everything was actually shut down for the whole weekend due to retooling of the line for a different model. We walked around anyway, but I would like to go back sometime and see everything in production.

After the tour is was time to hunt down some food. I really wanted some good restaurant food, but I knew we couldn't afford it. So, we headed over to Target and picked up a box of some... some sort of pasta we like and tastes as good as restaurant food but is about 1/10th the price. Then we went back to Dan's house, made the pasta and it ate it one his new bed from Ikea (which is really awesome by the way!).

Oh yes, and to make the whole day even better I brought my camera and decided to take photos in black and white. We got some great photos that just wouldn't be the same in color. Now for your viewing pleasure. (Dan took the second and third photo and obviously neither one of us took the last one)

Jealousy and Love

Opposing Forces or Vital Companions?

The stigma attached to jealousy runs deep in our minds, especially when connected with love. Just by doing a simple google Google search on the word thousands of results will come up on how dangerous jealousy is and how it’s important to get over it if you ever want to maintain a serious relationship. I myself have been accused of jealousy as if it were a sickness and told I would eventually get over it. This ubiquitous perception of jealousy has gone too far. I will get over my jealousy just as soon as I give up breathing. Jealousy is, in fact, not only right but also essential to the strength of a committed relationship.

Myth1: 1 Corinthians 13 says, "Love is not jealous."
Truth1: 1 Corinthians 13:4 states "Love envieth not." Jealousy is not to be confused with envy. The symptoms are similar but the underlying motives are contrasting. Envy is selfishness often masquerading as jealousy when one or both partners are insecure. Insecurity and selfishness in relationships can have a myriad of root problems. Envy seeks to posses someone or something which it does not rightfully own. It seeks its own personal happiness as the expense of others. Jealousy is fiercely protective of its possessions and should thrive in even the most secure relationships. This is confirmed and expounded on in Song of Solomon 8:6-7

6. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is as strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 7. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all his substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

It is clear from the last part of verse 7 that love cannot be sustained with material goods or earthly lusts. A love that can be bought with things of the earth will turn to loathing and disgust. These verses make it quite evident that love fueled by jealousy grows ardent and extremely difficult to extinguish. It is imperative to understand that jealousy means to protect what is rightfully yours.

Myth2: You are being overprotective and unreasonable. You will just have to get used to your partner spending time with the opposite gender. Anyway, it isn't like they are having sexual intercourse.
Truth2: 1 Corinthians 7:2 states that, "...to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." Marriage is more than just sexual. It was designed as an abatement to loneliness (Genesis 2:18, 24) and as such involves spirit, heart and mind as well as physical intimacy. Sharing your spirit, heart and mind is often the first step leading to sexual involvement. God means for us to satiate our loneliness with one person, our spouse.
If that isn't enough for you, dozens of passages (Ex 20:5, 34:14 Deut 4:24, 5:9, 6:15, 32:16, 32:21 Joshua 24:9 1Kings 14:22 Psalms 78:58, 79:5 and more) speak of God's righteous jealousy. He demands faithfulness and exclusivity from his people and does not get used to us spending additional time with false gods. In fact, God often demanded a complete slaughter of outside nations who worshipped false gods. He did this in part to protect Israel, but the Israelites thought they knew better and continually allowed the idolatrous nations to live among them. In turn, the Israelites continually removed themselves from following the Lord to worship false gods. Just as the idolaters were a serious threat to the health and strength of Israel's relationship with the Lord, those of the opposite gender are a threat to the health and strength of your relationship with your partner. Learn from Israel's mistakes.

Myth3: You don't trust your partner.
Truth3: It isn't about whether or not I trust my partner, it is about human nature. God's word repeatedly compares us to sheep that are easily led astray (Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 119:176, 1 Peter 2:25). King David had the Spirit of the Lord upon him (1 Samuel 16:13). He was said to have a heart perfect with the Lord ( 1 Kings 11:14, 15:3, Acts 13:22). Yet, as close to God as David was, he failed sexually with another man's wife. As long as we live on this earth, the battle between flesh and spirit will continue. If you deny this battle your relationship is likely to become its victim. Instead, be aware of human nature and takes steps to protect your relationship. Doing so is in no way distrusting your partner, but a wise decision to protect what is yours. Let me put it this way, if you are a king you have a castle, a kingdom and enemies. As king you would not simply trust your enemies to sit idly by. You would train an army, or perhaps build a moat. You would hope there would be no need for their use, but you were would be prepared. If you let your kingdom sit their unprotected it would eventually be destroyed.

In conclusion, I will not compose or suggest any rules for your relationship. These must be decided on your own. I simply hope that you have become of aware of the difference between jealousy and envy. Marriage is the most sacred of earthly relationships and meant to be a picture of our marriage to Christ. As such, it should be highly valued and protected.

Grommet Press

Hello! I know I haven't up-dated in awhile. =( Things have been slow around here for the past few weeks. I have been waiting for my grommet press to show up. It finally came this past weekend! I need to experiment with it a bit more before I can start using it on my clothing. But I am really excited about this piece of equipment. It is going to be so helpful! Alright, here is a photo of the press... TaDa! If you have never put in a grommet before you are probably looking at that thing like "whhhaaaat?" Yeah, well don't worry, you don't have to understand it, because I do, and that is important enough. I use grommets a lot in my clothing designs. Especially for corsets and such, but also on skirts.

See here in this waistband, those two little metal circles are grommets. Well half of them anyway, because grommets are made of two parts.This next photo just begins to explain how I have been putting grommets in all these years.

Alright, now I have to run because I need to take my laptop and my nano in to get worked on! My laptop case is chipping for the THIRD time! Seriously, this is ridiculous. And my nano is apparently dead. It won't even charge or anything. Grr. Oh yeah, and I am going to be really busy this weekend due to babysitting my siblings while my parents go out of town and then next week is Christmas... also... I have some injured muscles in my left arm/chest/back area... so I can't really do much with that arm at all! It is pretty painful. :-/ I am really eager to get back to sewing though... I have so many ideas! Hopefully l will be feeling better from that in the next weeks. k. gotta run.