E.L.E.V.E.N.

Welcome to 2011.  I hope you enjoy your stay here for the next 364 days. I know there will be tears and fears, joy and stress, hope and sorrow, meetings and partings, new friends and old.  But hey, that's just life.

11 goals for '11

1. Wake up earlier on the weekends.  Maybe this way I'll be able to actually accomplish something on Saturdays.
2. Stay more organized. I love having a clean room, but it's a struggle for me to keep it clean longer than a week.  Let's try for at least two, yes? Yes.
3. Less computer time, more non-procrastinating time. This is a huge goal for me, seeing as how I am the biggest procrastinator on the planet.  This list you're reading right now?  Also procrastination.  YUP!
4. Become better friends with my brother.  Why the shocked face?  I want a better relationship with my brother, and become better friends before he goes on his mission.
5. Write in my journal more.  If you were to read my journal right now, you might see one entry for every month.  Maybe.
6. Read 11 Classic novels. I'm not talking Pride and Prejudice or A Christmas Carol, real classics that I normally struggle to get through.  Wish me luck!
7. Learn to play the accordion.  Yes, you did read that correctly.  The accordion.  I've wanted to for a while, I just haven't actually done it.  Just, you wait, by December I'll be serenading you with my inspiring talent.
8. Be optimistic. I'm not saying I'm the most pessimistic person on the planet, but I'm definitely not the most jubilant, that's for sure!
9. Save money. I'm definitely not good at saving money, so I'm going to save, not spend.  I just have to remind myself of that every time I see a really cute pair of shoes or want a new book.
10. Be more daring and adventurous. No more quiet, scared fearful of what others think.  I'm ready to take a chance on something and have a possibility of it not turning out so well.
11. Be satisfied with what I have.  No lie, this one's going to be hard.  Everyone I know wants something more than they've got, so my goal is to make the best of what I have.

So, that's my list for this year, how about yours?

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is on Thursday and we ALL know what that means... :)  NO SCHOOL!!!!  Well, really only 2 days of school this week.  How wonderful.

Well, since it's the holiday of grateful-ness, here's what I'm thankful for:

• A house
• Great Friends
• Warm Sweats and Hoodies
• Christmas Music
• Good Grades
• An AWESOME Family
• Procrastination :)
• Sleep
• Chocolate
• Ponytails
• Heaters
• Snow
• Slippers

And that's only a few!  I've been greatly blessed with so many things, and I'm grateful we have a holiday to celebrate just that.

So, what are you grateful for???

Making a Difference

     

Today I was asked the simple question of "What do I want to be when I grow up?"  Every child at one point immediately will reply, "A Fireman!" or "A Teacher!"  Perhaps the imaginative will give a creative idea such as "An Alien!" or "A Dog!" (Both of which came out of my mouth at some point in my life.)

     But today it was different.  I once more gave the answer of Physical Therapist, automatically and with no brain activity whatsoever.  But then I thought, I don't just want to be  Physical Therapist, I want to change someone's life.  But why stop there?  Why be satisfied with only one life when I can change two?  Four? One Hundred?  One Thousand?  How about the world?  I don't want to be someone who sits around all day, waiting for something to come around that will change me.  I don't want to sit on the sidelines, watching the players, I want to play the game.  I want to be a World-Changer.

     It's discouraging though, thinking about changing the lives of the billions of people on this earth single-handedly.  So, I won't do it alone.  I'm recruiting YOU.  (Here's the part where you see a picture of Uncle Sam pointing at you, yeah you know the one)

YOUR MISSION:  I want you to make a difference in someone's life.  Make some cookies to take to a neighbor.  Refrain from saying that biting remark, instead say something kind.  Hold open a door for someone.  Smile and say hello.   Be that person in someone else's life that you wish to have in yours.  (Have you ever heard of the saying, "What comes around, goes around?  Well, that's what happens.  I promise)

     But, don't just do it today!  Do a kind act for someone else everyday.  And in a year, you'll already have changed the lives of 365 people.  Now, imagine if each of those people you helped turned around and did the same for someone else.  That's another 365 people.  And it causes a chain reaction so large, it will never end.  So, go and do something good, and I promise your day will become 18 billion times better.  Guaranteed.

Autumn. Fall. Wonderful.

Dear Fall,

Thank you for finally showing up.  I missed you.  I'm glad summer is over.  Now we can get on with real excitement.  I look forward to once again admiring your beauties and renewing our friendship.  

Love,

Tacie

P.S.  If you'll bring the gorgeous colors, I'll bring the pumpkin pie.  Deal.

Maybe it's the temperature and the crisp autumn air, or the fact that it's hoodie season again.  Perhaps it's the smell of fall, the sound of crunching leaves, or the promise of a pumpkin pie not too far ahead.  October brings a certain pleasure to my senses no other month will ever be able to compare with.  Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, carmel apples, halloween, I cannot think of one bad thing about fall.

Gorgeous.  And much more appealing than the AP European History textbook that I really should be reading right now.  Yup, sure is.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Currently known as quilt #1...  (How horrible of a name is that?  How about Fredrico?  Reginald?  Susanna?  Stripes?  Ziggy?  Ziggy.  Perfect.  From now on, this quilt will be referred to as Ziggy.)

Enjoy it's loveliness.

Officially, this is my first finished quilt.  Ever.  And I have to admit that I am quite proud of my handiwork.  Granted, in the near future I'll be sick of red and aqua, but I'll still be in love with this quilt.

It's based on the Anna Maria Horner quilt pattern Folk Dance (Free link on the sidebar of her blog) but I didn't like the direction of the zig zags, so I played around with it until it looked the way I wanted it to.  And then I found out she had a pattern for it going the other way too.  (Found Here.)  Leave it to me to complicate things like that.

Call me crazy, but yes, I hand quilted the whole darn thing.  It didn't take me that long, it's just the fact that I now have calluses and dead, dry skin on my right thumb and pointer finger.  I didn't even know that was possible.

All in all, I'm really happy with this quilt and already have fabric picked out for another.  But next time it will be all machine quilted.  In fact, I may pay someone else to quilt it.  That sounds quite nice.

DIY Vintage Goodies

Lately I've been slightly obsessed with vintage everything.  And Obsessed is putting it lightly.  So, I'll share the goodness

{Left} Martha Stewart DIY Bottle Enameling {here}

{Right} DIY vintage tins {here}

And two amazing Flickr sets of vintage labels that you can print and use (non-commercial of course)

{Left here and Right here}

Now, go and enjoy that vintage-y goodness.

Guess Who Shops at IKEA???

Only one of my favorite actors from one of my favorite movies...  David Nibley!  Aka Elder Johnson from the Best Two Years.  

So, there we were, sitting at Ikea, eating delicious fettuccine with chicken, when this guy who I could've sworn looked exactly like David Nibley walked by.  Turns out, that was him, and I got a picture with him! A blurry one, but none-the-less, a picture with him!  (Do excuse the blurriness, it was a camera picture)

Yes, that's me!  This was a very good day.  Just saying!