It’s amazing how busy your life can be when you have kids in public school for the first time, you live with your Mom and you go back to college. Some days I felt like whew, got through it! 🙂

I did good in my classes for the quarter – I did end up with a C in Algebra, which I was disappointed in. My teacher said if I got a C on the final, I’d end up with a B for a final grade – so after seeing the C, I figure I bombed the final. I knew I didn’t do that great, but I didn’t think I did that bad! But a C is passing and I got two A’s, so my GPA is good (not like that matters too much since I’m transferring the classes out anyway!). The next quarter starts in a couple of weeks and since the baby is going to be here shortly after that, I am taking two classes but they are art classes and will be easy to keep up with, or catch up with anyway. I’m taking the second beadwork class, with the same teacher from the first one, and then a drum making class. I’m excited about both! I am not sure what projects I want to work on for the beadwork class, but she said she lets us pick whatever we want since we know how to bead from the first class (or in my case, I’ve known since I was like 11 years old).

Chris is still gone – which is annoying but that’s how it goes I suppose – but he did get to come back for a few weeks at Christmas. He’ll actually be back in a few weeks because he gets baby leave. I just found a great ticket for him last night actually! He is going to fly into Vancouver vs Seattle – we are about 45 minutes from the Vancouver Int’l Airport, vs being two and a half hours away from Seattle. So I can just leave a little before his flight will be there to pick him up vs driving hours or having him ride the shuttle (so a small amount of savings) and then when he leaves we don’t have to stay overnight, we can just drive up, which saves on a hotel room. Oh and he doesn’t have to pay for a hotel over in Japan because of when his flight leaves. Even better, the price difference between the ticket to Seattle and to Vancouver is $130. Figuring in all the savings, it’s cheaper for him to fly there. How awesome is that!

Today we are not doing much, we all stayed up very late of course. I’ve been very crafty for the past few months and will start posting some pictures as an update. I hope your new years eve celebration was fun and all that you wanted it to be! Here’s to a fantastic 2010!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GoFj8Fc9iM[/youtube]

I’ve (we’ve since its the kids too) been living with Mom since mid-May and I’m finally realizing this is a great time to work on ‘who I am’ – you know, that big huge what am I doing with my life, what am I going to do with my life, what can I do today and tomorrow to get headed in that direction.

I signed up for a few college classes for the fall. I’ve been taking college classes since I was a junior in high school due to an agreement the local tribal college and the school district had that allowed hs students to take college classes for dual credit. My senior year of high school I only took a few classes at the school and worked every afternoon, taking college classes in the afternoon or evening. I remember I took my (required) health class independent study since my schedule didn’t allow for me to be at school when the class was. Understanding teachers are the best!

I’m taking three classes – Algebra (after all these years, I still need this class!), Beadwork (which will just be too fun) and History of Federal Indian Policy. I am slightly nervous about going back to school, but it’ll be fine I know.

When I was a kid, ie fourth/fifth grade, I wanted to be a lawyer. Goals change and move over the years and now I’m at the point of just wanting to be done. I’ve been in college for too long to not be done.

My new goal is to be done with my undergrad degree by the time Chris is ready to go to shore duty (shore is basically in an office vs sea duty being on a ship/sub/boat) because it’s possible for him to get stationed with an ROTC unit at a university – thus we could be stationed somewhere long enough for me to get my Masters. But, no grad school without undergrad already finished.

This is step one, part of it anyway.

I’m also thinking about how I work online, about what I need to do to get back to being fully active in the websites I have. I also need to be better about staying connected with the couple of military wife forums I am a part of and maintaining friendships I have. It’s easy to settle into being so happy to be around my Mom again, that other things end up slipping.

What brand and model do you have? Brother Innovis NX-450

How long have you had it? since December 2008

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? Mine cost approximately $700 from a Singer Sewing Center, I didn’t look anywhere else to compare prices. The price included a year warranty through the store as well as a free cleaning within a year of purchase.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? So far I have sewn quilt tops as well at machine quilted a few quilts and I’ve made a couple of purses. I’m working on mainly blankets and quilts for a family event so that’ll be what I make for the next few months.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? I sew at least every other day. There will be times when I sew every day and then times when I don’t sew at all (during our vacation). I did use it just about every day for three months getting the secret quilt projects ready. Since we were moving I wanted to take advantage of the free cleaning from the store I purchased it from, who said since I only had it for a few months it wasn’t necessary. However, the needle threader quit working so I had them look at that and do the cleaning. It was an easy fix (which I didn’t pay for) and they also did the cleaning. I do notice when something happens with the thread you need to take the bobbin out and put it back in, and since I do so much sewing I do change the needle fairly often. 

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? I really like my machine! I’m sure I will love it once I use more of the functions. I have used some of the decorative stitches when I do the edge of the quilt (just decorative on the binding) but I really haven’t done a lot of them. I really want to use more of the stitches just because they are so cute! I also have a couple of styles of the alphabet available and want to use them for something. Maybe the signing of a quilt! Definitely passionate about it! And no, no name yet.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? I do love the needle threader as well as the cutting function – okay the cutting function is awesome! The machine just in general works really well. I also love how quiet it is.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? It can be annoying when I am starting sewing something and the beginning edge of that fabric is pulled down into the – whatever that area is called that the needle goes into. But it doesn’t happen too often.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! When I got this machine I walked into the store and looked at three models before picking this one. It was our anniversary and we were heading off to dinner! I needed a new machine desperately because I had so many projects I was working on. I didn’t take too long to buy this and despite not having done any research beforehand, I am very happy with it. It took me maybe 15 minutes to pick it out and purchase, we got to the store right before it was closing that evening.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? I would! I think this is a great machine because it is about mid-level as far as pricing. I think you do need to spend a little more so you will get a machine that will last. I had my previous two machines for a very short amount of time before they broke.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? Functions – if you use a certain thing over and over or are used to having it, your new machine would need this function as well. The price of course. How heavy it is can be a deciding factor for some people.

Do you have a dream machine? At this point, I don’t. I am happy with my machine!

Living in a hotel room makes me realize how much trash tv there is! Oh how I miss my DVR.

• Rock of Love Bus – Seriously? I didn’t realize this was time number 3 as I don’t watch the show. I like that they are showing the preview of him saying he’s tired of this and that’s why he has a ring. I’ve only seen two (maybe three) episodes of this but I hope he picks Mindy. I felt bad for the girl who ended up being the third girl, I can’t remember her name. She was sort of crying and saying she loved him and he dumped her on tv but she hoped they could be friends and hang out. Weird.

• For the Love of Ray J – Um, okay. Well I’m not sure who I hope he picks. The girls seem nice enough but damn catty to each other. Why would you want a woman who is that rude! That’s crazy to me. You can’t say oh it’s a game when the outcome is supposed to be a relationship. Sure it’s tv and whatever relationship comes out of it probably isn’t going to last, but at least try to be real, just a little. And if they are that catty and rude even off the show, dang. Actually I hope he picks Cocktail, real name Joanna.

• I Love Money 2 – Okay this show is hilarious. I never watched the Flavor of Love shows or whatever else the rest of the cast came from, but putting them all together to fight for money does get good laughs. The lady who only ever wears a bikini and loves the pretty boy – funny! It’s funny watching it because you know what is being said and you know what is going to happen, but in the moment the people don’t. There are a lot of people left so I can’t say who I want to win.

I think the Rock of Love Bus finale is tonight, but the others have a bit to go. I’m sure I’ll catch who won on a rerun!