Number twelve: Craft Show Failure

This may not seem like a highlight of the summer, but it really was. Yeah, I was close to tears during the show, but it all turned out good and I learned so much.

I had fun setting up the show. collecting the props and making others, making jewelry all summer (when I wasn't doing homework or working), and I spent the day with my mom since she came with me to the show.  I only had a couple of sales and I barely covered the cost of my booth fee. Pretty sad, that bit.

On the other hand, I got tons of compliments on my jewelry and every loved my displays. I learned that shows are not my favorite thing and they are much harder to sell at than you might think. I have a very deep, new-found respect for people that do shows all the time.

So that is my summer recap. It was great and I am so glad that everything happened the way that it did!  How was your summer? What great things happened in your life?

Number eleven: Getting an iPad?!

Yeah! Can you believe it? If you know me very well, you are probably just getting up from the floor where you fell when you read the title of this post! As you may know, I am not one to spend lots of money on things. So you may be wondering how I got an iPad.

Well, I did not buy it. It was a gift! After doing my internship for awhile she up and gave me an iPad! Crazy huh?!

I have to say, it is really fun. I seem to be playing with it all of the time. Yet at the same time, I don't think that I would buy one for myself. It really is not very productive, but it is fun. I like having it. There are some really fun apps too. I think my favorite might be Magic Piano from Smule.

Oh dear! This is beginning to sound like an advertisement. Well, it isn't. I just wanted to share one of the highlights of my summer with you!

Number nine: Finishing my MBA!

Yeah! A little over a year an a half ago, I was so excited to start my MBA journey. And yet...I am so glad to be done! After about 20 years of school, I am finally tired of it. I am ready to be done and I finally am!

My internship this summer was the last part of my MBA and was all research for my thesis. I am just so relieved to be done! Anyway, My thesis ended up being some 48 pages long! And I only got an 82 on it! For those of you who know me, I am pretty obsessive about grades. My GPA for my undergrad was a 3.88. My MBA GPA was a 3.936. I am very happy with that even if I do have a +B in the last class. I mean, yeah, I would have loved to have an A, but overall I did well enough and am happy to be done.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to be done. No more homework. No more discussion boards. No more instructors. No more homework. How wonderful is the world?!

I have decided not to participate in the graduation ceremony. It is not really my thing. But I am hoping to go and cheer! I know some people that will be walking and am really excited for one person in particular ...I think I owe her some Duck Tape Roses....

Anyway! I am really happy and hope you are happy for me too. School is nice, but being done is even better!

Number eight: The excitement of new product in the shop.

Oh my gosh! New stuff is awesome! Seriously it is great to get packages. Well, you know I love to get mail and parcels. Anyway, it seemed like all summer we were getting packages. Some of them were just items that were restocked, but others were new products. Still, there was one shipment that we all were waiting for.

Jo Morton is a fabric designer that creates Civil War reproduction cottons for quilting. She does really great work and those who follow her are often very loyal. Jo Morton fabric also makes up the entire list of designers that the shop purchases the entire line of fabrics. Other designers make some fabrics in a line that are not as pretty, but Jo always does great. So, we were waiting patiently for the newest line to come. We knew that it was supposed to ship "August/September." But what does that mean? The shop always gets the fabric quicker than others because she buys the whole line so we thought that we might get it by the end of July. By the way, we were expecting 30 bolts in the line.

Everyday when UPS or FedEx came I would rush to open the package. I just could not wait for the new line to come. Then one day....

I was in the backroom which opens to the alley where the deliveries are made. I was pressing something, I cannot even remember what it was. I heard the door open and glanced over my shoulder to see who was coming in. My eyes saw a man in all brown backing in. I turned back to my work...Wait! Brown! That is UPS! And he was backing in! I whirled around...yes, I left the iron on and plugged in...By now he was in with a little trolley holding 4 huge boxes! I ran over to see who they were from...meanwhile he was pushing them into the room. "Where do you want them," he asked, "I don't care! Put it anywhere! Who is it from! Hold still!" Seriously, that is what I shouted out! He finally put them down and I read the shipping label. "Oh my gosh! It's from Andover!!" That is the company that makes the fabric with Jo Morton's designs.

I ran to the front of the shop babbling something unintelligible ...Nancy, the shop owner miraculously understood what I was saying as I was jumping up and down. "It's Leesburg" she exclaimed. She, Ronda, and I dashed to the back to tear open the boxes...leaving four customers in the front. Once we got back there the poor UPS guy with the most bewildered look on his face handed me the electronic clipboard to sign. "So...do you get this excited over all of the packages?" he asked. "No, it's just that we have been waiting for this one for so long!"

I cut open the boxes and we oohed and ahhed over the loveliness  Then the customers came to the back and asked if they could help us carry the bolts of fabric to the front. We said yes, we would be thrilled to have help! The ladies were happy to do it too. So fun! I think we each took two or three armfuls of fabric to the front. It was great! Thirty bolts of fifteen yards each!

The rest of the afternoon we were busy cutting fat quarters and we even had a lady come in to buy an entire fat quarter bundle. It was truly thrilling.




P.S. The next day the same UPS guy delivered some more packages (boring ones in comparison  and asked why I did not get so excited this time...

Number 7: Letters from friends.

I love writing letters, but it is even better to receive them! I have always liked to write letters. Thank yous are  fun to write and I have been writing them for ages. I am not sure why I like to write...maybe it has something to do with my love for paper and stationary, but who can say?

I have a few close friends that I like to write to. Some of them are awesome at writing back super fast, others take their time. Either way, I love to get the letters they write.

Letters are more important than text messages and e-mails. Letters take more thought, more planning, more consideration. Letters offer the reader a bit of the real feelings of the reader. Letters offer more honesty. Actually writing the words offers the writer the opportunity to take time out of the busyness of life and to put down in words what the writers thoughts are at that point in time. Letters are lovely.

Some letters I got this summer were full of good news which buoyed up my spirits. Others where written with heavy hearts - these challenged me to help as best I could. Some of the letters were encouraging and some were just newsy. No matter what the letter said on the page they all told me that letter writing is not a lost art.

Oh! And I cannot forget about the letters from Jake! I was really bad at writing regularly to Jake while he was at bootcamp, but he wrote faithfully to his family with whom I was staying. Jake's letters where awesome! They were full of all kinds of news. Like what physical challenges he had completed and was looking forward to doing. He wrote about his friends he was making and the things they had in common. He wrote about his walk with Christ and his desire to be baptized once he got home. His letters encouraged those it was written to and was read with tears in the eyes of the reader more than once.

Letters are lovely.

Number six: My sister got a puppy!

That's right! In July, my sister got a puppy! His name is Wellingtin and he is a six month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He is totally adorable! And we all love him!

Now this might not seem like a big deal to you, so I will give you a little background information. Ever since my sister was able to ask for Christmas and Birthday presents she has always had two answers. #1: she wanted a puppy and #2: she wanted a dog. Now, as a kid, I was terrified of dogs. Seriously, terrified. On top of that, my dad worked swing shift for awhile and needed his sleep. Then later he had brain surgery and now requires at minimum 8 hours of sleep. 

It always seemed that a dog was just out of the question. My sister was not mature enough to take care of a dog on her own and mom did not need more things to have to do. They were able to placate her by allowing her to play with the neighborhood dogs and she babysat some dogs too. But she always wanted a puppy. 

Now, now that she is 21 and everything is right and I am not so afraid of dogs. Now, she has a puppy! Welly was a gift to her for college graduation! (Congrats Sissy!). 

Welly is a true delight. We has a very sweet disposition and a kind spirit. He is very active, loves to hunt moths and crickets. Enjoys walks around the neighborhood. He is happy and just makes us all happy. My sister is teaching him to sit and come and such and he begins obedience classes next week! Ho-rah for Welly!

Number five: Discovering Downton Abbey.

You will probably think I am coming late to the party, but I just discovered Downton Abbey this summer! Crazy, I know. I guess I have been living under a rock because there were two entire seasons for me to watch!

I love period drams like that and like Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Anne of Green Gables, etc...They are wonderful.So it is no wonder why I enjoyed Downton Abbey. I think that Katie was the one that really encouraged me to watch it. And Amazon Prime had it for free with instant video. So that was nice! I would watch at least one episode before I went to sleep at night.

But by the time I was ready to watch season 2, Amazon did not have it for free (they do now). Katie, the wonderful cousin of mine! Works at the local library and she came home with season 2 for me the very weekend I needed it! We watched the entire season in one weekend! It was great!

Now I cannot wait for the third season to come out! But it does not come out until January! Ugh! I guess I will have to console myself by watching Supernatural with Katie instead. Oh well, I enjoy that one too.

Number four: Watching others grow

This one might seem funny, but it is true. One of the best parts of the summer was watching other people grow in many different ways. One friend became pregnant over the summer and it seemed like she grew on a daily basis. Other people grew in other ways. Some grew in faith. Others in physical strength. Some  grew in knowledge. Some in kindness. Some people grew in leadership.

No matter how they grew, watching was fun and meaningful. Watching others make realizations or learning new things is always wonderful. Change is good and when we see it in others - we look back at our own lives and look for ways that we can grow too.

That is one of the coolest things to see. Person A is experiencing change and is growing in so many ways is being watched by Person B. Person B admires Person A and strives to grow too. This is what I enjoy watching!

Number one -Staying with Family

So over the summer I stayed with my Mom's sister and her family. My Aunt Nancy, Uncle Dan, and cousins Katie and Jacob had a crazy summer. For one thing, they played host to me. But more importantly, Jake left for Marine Bootcamp in early June.

This was a major change for everyone. I think I have mentioned before that Jake is like a brother to me, well I cried like a baby when he left. We all had a pretty hard time with it, but we were able to work through it together.

Jake got back from Bootcamp as a Private First Class (PFC) just last week for a ten day leave. The whole family got together for a great party on Saturday!

Staying with my family was such a blessing. We all became closer to each other and it was so fun. Katie and I would pretty much take over the living room after the dinner dishes were done and we would watch Bones or Supernatural while I made jewelry and got ready for my show...of course, I only did this when I was not doing homework and working on my thesis.

I'm back...and how!

Hello everyone! I know it has been ages and I have so much to tell you! All summer I was staying with family in Michigan while I worked at a quilt shop doing my internship and finishing up my MBA. The summer was long and crazy and wonderful!

So here is a list of my favorite summer memories:
1. Staying with family when they needs me most.
2. Working with amazing women in a fantastic quilt shop.
3. Church and my relationship with Jesus!
4. Watching others grow.
5. Discovering Downton Abbey.
6. My sister got a puppy!
7. Letters from friends.
8. The excitement of new product in the shop.
9. Finishing my MBA!
10. Getting a job!
11. Getting an iPad?!
12. Craft show failure.

I know! A ton of things, wonderful things happened in my life and I cannot wait to tell you about them all. I think for the next 12 days, I will write a post about each of the things on the list - one item per day!