Wednesday, February 28, 2007

This one is for you Carlee

Our small community lost a 15 year old female teen Monday night. She was struck by a semi and pronounced dead at the scene. It is such a tragedy. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the family and friends that surrounded her life. I knew her, but not well. Carlee started to take private etiquette lessons from me a couple of years ago, but didn't continue. Yet, I was fortunate enough to get a glimpse of her thoughts and eagerness to become a poised young lady. She will always have a special place in my heart.

I could go on and get into some deep thoughts, but I think this is enough. Just want to dedicate this entry to Carlee.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

MANY PHOTOS BELOW

Several posts below contain photos the past couple of months!!! I'm so happy I took some time at work today to catch up. Don't tell my boss (hee hee).

Family Photos

This photo was taken during my trip to Florida for my Grandfather, Ernie's, Birthday. L - R. Ernie, myself and my cousin Paul. Paul and I were representing all the grand kids from the youngest (Paul) to the oldest (me). Ernie was so happy to be with his two sons, daughter and two grandchildren. Doesn't he look fabulous?


This is one of the famous turtles that live in the pond behind Ernie's house. They get fed every night :)

What beautiful women! I'm so glad I come from good genes. I just love generation photos. They should be taken every time a family gets together. L-R. Me, Grandmother - Agnes, and Mother - Catherine. I just realized that my mom and I have the same tilt to our heads. Genetics???








Squish Photos



These are a few of the squishes we've have received from our DTC yahoo group. Aren't the fabrics beautiful? We have many various colors that the quilt will be very cheerful and bright. Every wish (card in photos) has been personal and heart warming too. I can't wait to get started on it this summer! Thank you everyone for taking the time and sending such wonderful squishes!

If anyone is interested in sending a squish for our child's traditional Chinese quilt, (we need 100) please read the 100 Good Wishes Quilt posted in January. You can find the link on the left hand side of our blog.

Happy Heads, Hands and Feet

Our DTC yahoo group has a secret buddy gift exchange. This month's theme was Happy Heads, Hands and Feet. My wonderful S.B. surprised us with 10 of the cutest finger puppets we've ever seen and 2 Dr. Seuss books about Hands and Feet. I just love these fun AND educational gifts. My sister, Alexa, and sister in-law, Jill, know from experience that learning toys have been a popular gift theme with Mike and I for our nieces and nephews. Our S.B. also included a traditional Chinese New Year Good Luck Money Envelope. This is the year of the GOLDEN pig, this special golden year only comes around every 60 years. In the envelope is a dollar bill. The bill begins with the serial number 8888. Eight is considered the luckiest number of all. As you can imagine anything with the number 8 can sometimes be a rare find in China. Maybe our lucky money will bring us good fortune this year :) That would be nice because Mike is thinking about opening a log furniture store since he has been making and selling log furniture for a few years now.


House Photos


Here are some photos of our new home. The lot is so beautiful. It's full of great trees, character and during the winter we have great views. Hopefully it will be completed in April. As you can see, the exterior is almost finished. We're thinking about adding a walkway/bridge from the down slope to the porch. The log railing along the porch still needs to be added as well. The wood shop and future master bedroom is located on the right side where the two windows are located. The great room is in the middle of the house and the two bedrooms, baths, and office are on the left side.
Mike is making the cabinets (he's just so talented!). The photo on the left shows part of the under cabinets in the bar area. I've never had custom cabinets before and Mike is so good about working in everything I would like :) I'm soooo lucky!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

3 months LID

Everytime we see the month flip it puts big smiles on our faces. It also happens to be a special day. Mike's father, George, is celebrating his birthday today too. These past 2 months have flown by. We can't believe it's already been three months! Yes, we still have a long to time go, but three down feels great baby!

My car is in the dumps. It's been at the car shop for over a week now. Things take a long time to get fixed up here. It was suppose to be ready today, but wasn't of course. Tomorrow I'm getting a ride with a friend early so I'll have an hour to try and post some photos. I'm e-mailing myself several, so be sure to tune in soon.

We also received our third secret buddy gift - hopefully I can get some photos up and show the details.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! This is the Golden year of the Pig which only comes around every 60 years. All those born this year are considered extra lucky and easy going. Although Chinese New Year is in our thoughts, Mike and I really aren't going to celebrate. I was able to catch an early glimpse of the New Year while in DC China Town last week. Pretty cool place!

My first trip to DC was quite interesting. I didn't have much time to site see, but was able to take a night tour of the city my last night. Part of the sites were having an electric black out. So, I was unable to see the Lincoln Memorial and a few others. Otherwise, I enjoyed seeing our nations capital.

On the flight to DC we were on the same plane as Senator Salazar. It was neat to see him in person.
It was surprising to see that he was seated in the middle of the plane like everyone else. I wanted to meet him, but many people had the same idea. He's quite the down to earth Senator and am pleased with what he has done. He'll always have my vote!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Ruby

Mike and I came up with another name that we both really like, Ruby. It goes well with our last name, Skubella, and represents the color red. Red is a very important color in China. It also reminds us of our favorite character in Cold Mountain. It isn't official because we want to see a photo of our child before we settle on a name. Now to think about boy names.....

I have many photos I would love to post, but our computer STILL won't let me upload anything on blogspot. It's weird because I can upload on other websites. Hopefully, I'll have time at the end of the month to take some time from work to post some photos from the club.

I'm off to the east coast for the week. It will be my first time in Washington DC. Most of my time will be spent at a conference so there won't be much sightseeing. I'll post again in a week - until then.....




Thursday, February 8, 2007

Squishes

What is a squish? A square of fabric and a written wish for the traditional 100 good wishes quilt. Don't you just love that word? It sounds so cozy. We received more squishes from our DTC group this past week. Our favorite is the blue and orange coi fish fabric. Mike loves coi fish and even has one tattooed on his arm. A few families also sent some cool vintage looking fabric. All the wishes and fabric will all have a warm place in our child's heart. Thank you DTC group families for making our child's quilt so special.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Bears & Ring

The Super Bowl was a bit disappointing. The Bears did well during the first 15 seconds of the game, then things seemed to go down hill. At least they were able to play and Mike was in his glory for 60 seconds or so -

A couple of weeks ago I lost my wedding ring. I was looking through several large trash bags full of jewelry and toys that were donated to the club. It was never found in any of the toy bags or on the 4H Fairbarn, the place I was diving into bags of toys. Of course I've been sad, but it didn't really hit me until last night. I can't believe it's gone. It makes me so so so sad. I'm known to lose things, but this is the first time in a long time that I've lost something that means so much to me. My mom was able to send a ring she bought for me twenty some years ago. It also has a sapphire and is very very nice. Still, I hope my wedding ring shows up some how.