Spa Day!

Brenda and I had the pleasure of going to the spa last week. In December I won a $150 gift certificate to Spa Utopia from my favorite radio station, Z 95.3. It was right after the big snow fall in late November and I heard the DJ say to email them a story and picture of what you'd been doing since the snow fell. The entries had to be in by 4:30. I worked until 4:00, so I raced home and got my email ready. I typed up my story about how I hadn't been able to go and play in the snow because I was making the quilt for my parents for Christmas and I made it a really good sob story about putting my family pictures on it and how it was a lot of work and blah, blah, blah. Yes, that was all true, but you have to beef these things up to tug at the heart strings (I'll leave out the detail about how I accomplished that because it'll make me seem ruthless just to be able to win something). The computer I was using was a little slow at downloading (no offence Lori - I love being able to use your computer), so by the time I hit send, it was 4:35. I figured I was too late, but by the time I walked from the office to my bedroom, my phone was ringing and it was Z 95.3!!! They said that the spa was doing the same thing that I was doing with my quilt ... putting pictures of the gift giver on their gift certificates, so it tied in to what I was doing with my quilt. NICE!!! My friends all bug me because I win so many things, and my response to them always is, "Did you enter? Can't win if you don't enter!" They have no idea how many things I enter and don't win, but that's ok.

Here are some pics of our luxurious day. It's like you're at home ... but better. They have everything you could need there. They give you nice bath robes and you sit and relax while you wait. Then the masseuse comes and takes you to your room. I had the hot stone massage, in case you were wondering.After our massages we sat in the steam room for about 15 minutes and opened up our pores. That felt great!!! Then they have fully stocked showers. I didn't even have to bring my own shampoo!

After showering, we went and sat in the lounge again and read magazines, ate crushed almonds and dried fruit and looked out over the water. There are a few Spa Utopia locations, but we chose the one at the Pan Pacific looking over the harbour.

Then we went and beautified ourselves. They also have blow dryers, beautiful smelling lotion, lemon water, hair spray etc for our use. They also had ...

"womanly" products! Isn't that awesome!

And because of all the relaxing, steaming and showering you do, you're likely to have had your makeup smudged or come off all together, so they even have ...

Wow. This is the life. Some of you may have experienced this before, but this was my first time. I had HEARD about places like this, but didn't know they really existed. Unfortunately, without winning chances to attend places like this, I will probably never grace the inside again, but it was nice to feel special for a day.

Weekend in Seattle

Sorry it took me so long to update. Not having a computer really sucks sometimes. Sorry. :(

So, last weekend 7 of us girls took off for Seattle. As we neared Lynden, we saw a billowing of smoke in the sky. When we got closer, this is what we saw.

"What's going on here?" we wondered. "How could this have started?" We stopped and watched for about 5 minutes. We could feel the heat from our car. It was interesting to watch the fire move throughout the building and it seemed like the tiny streams of water were doing nothing. We were all in awe and then someone pointed this out.Hee Hee - Ok, so it was controlled. Even though it was a training exercise, the firemen were still doing a great job.

Off we headed for lunch at Taco Bell. Yes, you could say we made a run for the border. You probably wouldn't say that, but you could. We had our cheap, yummy meal that we would "pay for" later and I noticed that on the sauce packets they had different sayings. I showed this one to Jennie. I don't know if you can read it or not, but it says, "Will you scratch my back?" I was just showing it to her because it was funny, not because I was asking her if I could scratch her back, and she made the funniest, scrunched up face I'd seen her make. It was like she was recoiling from me as if I'd asked her something vile. I looked at her and said, "What?" She said, "I hate having people scratch my back." Aaah, Jennie, you're so cute. Learn something new about your friends every day.

Onward we went and did some shopping at The Alderwood Mall (the best/biggest mall in Washington I believe). If you have a chance to go there ... do. It's great. The stores that are a MUST hit for us are See's Candies and Sephora, but of course there are many other great stores there as well. The shoe section at Nordstrom's is always good to check out as well ... salesmen are always dressed to the nines ... oh, and the shoes are nice too. ;)

From there we went to the Mercy Me/Audio Adrenaline concert. I really enjoyed the concert even though I didn't know a lot of their songs. I knew a lot of the chorus', so that was good.

Here are the lovely ladies. From left, Carmen, Jennie, Karen, Natasha, Colleen and Brenda. I'm taking the picture. Thanks for a great weekend, girls!

By the time they got to this song, the tears were flowing for me. This song is called, I Can Only Imagine and it talks about the first time we see Jesus face to face. Amazing to even think about it. I believe I will be falling to my knees and not be able to speak. Listen to this clip and follow along with the words below and you'll know what I'm talking about.


Surrounded by your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Where do I live again?

Do we live in the Yukon, or the Prairies or Alaska? No, we live in BC. So why in the world did I wake up this morning and look into my backyard and see this? Even though it's beautiful, I don't want to see it anymore.

And please don't be offended for those of you that live in the Yukon, the Prairies or Alaska. I'm not saying that they are bad places to live. I’ve been to Alaska and I’ve lived in the Prairies and they are both beautiful in their own ways, but that’s not where I live. Snow at the end of February? That’s weird for BC. Ok, and yes, it’s now 3 in the afternoon and it’s all melted, but it was still weird.

Now, on to more exciting things. All I can say is Phewf!!! Grey’s Anatomy didn’t turn out either of the ways I thought it was going to. Unfortunately, my friend Leana hasn’t caught up with us here in North America, so I still can’t openly talk about the story plot. I know she said it's ok to talk about it in one of her comments, but I don't want to ruin anything. All I’m going to say about last night’s episode are these 2 things: 1) I’ve got 2 words for you … Brain Damage? and 2) I love Denny and miss him!!!

Next week I’ll try to have something other than TV rants. The girls and I are going down to Seattle this weekend, so I’m sure I’ll have some pics to post next week, unless they say, "What happens in Seattle, stays in Seattle." Haha No, we’re not a rowdy group, but we do know how to have fun. Most of my friends read my blog and as soon as I take a picture now they say, "Fiona, you can’t blog that one!" or "Watch out! Fion’s probably going to blog about that." Kinda funny. Anyways, have a great weekend!

Aaaaaahhhhh!!!

Quick, I'm getting a coldsore. Ok, let's just call it what it is ... herpes!! Ewwwww, I have herpes!! I can feel the tingling of the monster just starting to rear it's ugly head. Any good remedies out there (other than putting perfume on it)? Do tell.

Ok, if there were any potential suitors out there, I just lost 'em all. :( Oh well. Hey, if he doesn't love me, herpes and all, I don't want him .... right?

What the HELLLLLL!!!

Mom, if you read this, sorry about saying What the Hell (oops, said it again), but it had to be said. I'm talking about Grey's Anatomy last night. I have to be very selective in what I write because I'm not sure my friend, Lea in Argentina, has caught up with all the episodes, so I don't want to give anything away, but I can't believe how they ended last night's episode. If it's true, there will be a part of me that won't want to watch the show anymore, that's how bad it ended. But maybe it was a dream, or this whole season has been a dream. I know, that wouldn't be great either, but it would be better than having how it ended last night be true. Can't be true. I refuse not to believe it. Lea, don't go on the Grey's website and find out what I'm talking about because you don't want to ruin anything. Unless you really are totally up to date, then let me know and we can rant away. Jennie called me at work this morning and she didn't even say hello. She just said, "What the Hell? (see Mom, it's not just me). I said, "I know. That's exactly what I thought and am going to write on my blog today." I can't believe we have to wait until next Thursday to find out if it's true or not. But they'll probably find a way to drag it through a bunch more episodes before we find out what's really going on. Can you tell I'm in denial? Whatever. I'm too worked up to talk about it anymore. Peace out.

What Movies Teach Us

1) When they're alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.

2) When in love, it is customary to break into song.

3) Any lock can be picked by a credit card or a paper clip in seconds - unless it's the door to a burning building with a child trapped inside.

4) One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing all of them than 20 men have of shooting one man.

5) A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating, but he will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

Source: Anonymous

Sun Run & Survivor Update

It's now been 4 weeks of training and I've only missed one training day (I had a really bad cough, ok - the doc even gave me pills for bronchitis, so I think that's a good excuse). They say that next week the training will get more intense, so PRAY FOR ME!!! I'm actually really looking forward to the Sun Run. Maybe I'll feel differently a week before, but right now I'm still excited about it, a little nervous, yes, but hoping the adrenalin will kick in and help me past the nerves.

I'm in 2 different Survivor pools. One with work people and one with my friends. Yes, just call me Kenny Rogers ... you know, The Gambler? Anyways, the names I drew are Mookie and Earl. I'm pretty happy with those choices for now, but we'll see how things go. I made it past week 1. So far, so good!

Phewf, 4 posts in one day. That was a lot of typing and downloading, but I'm finally caught up. Until next time ...

Happy Birthday Monica!!

Last night we celebrated Monica's 40th birthday. I hope she doesn't mind me saying that she's 40, because she looks great (also, it's going to be on the pictures I post, so you'd know anyway). :)

Monica loves the restaurant in Vancouver called Los Margaritas (I think that's the name of it), but instead of us all going there, her hubby Kelly decided to put on a Mexican themed party for her here. There were 15 of us in all and it was a great time.

Nothing like a 7 layer dip instead of a cake! During supper Monica's sister and cousins were reminiscing about growing up with Monica and although Mon might kill me for telling you this story, I have to tell it. Mon used to force her sister to play barbies with her and would make up all these scenarios. Sounds normal, right? Well, they weren't allowed to have Ken dolls, so they used their brothers GI Joe doll and Bobby Orr doll instead. Again, sounds normal. Mon's sister told us that Mon was so into barbies that she had to go through the whole life cycle of dating (including kissing), marriage, getting pregnant and giving birth (including the sounds effects of grunting while giving birth). After they've finished telling their stories, Monica starts giggling quietly to herself and after some prodding, tells us that she remembers one time when she made Barbie wear a towel and oops, the towel slipped a little to reveal unmentionables. Too funny. I love your imagination, Mon. Very cute.



Instead of a cake, Monica asked to have a banana split bar. I was so full from supper, but of course I had to stuff my face with the yummy fixin's you see above. Mmmm, mmmm, mmm.

Mon, you have such a wonderful spirit. You are a loving, caring, funny, encouraging friend and I'm so glad to have gotten to know you over the last couple of years. Thanks for letting me "crash" your party. ;P Looking forward to the Jann Arden concert and also to your blow out party in the summer. Bring on the 80s tunes!!!

BNL Concert

Last weekend Rachel and I went to see BNL with the tickets that I won WAAAAY back in September. It was a GREAT concert. Granted, they're no U2, but they were definitely funnier than U2 (don't let Bono, Edge, Larry or Adam know that I said that).

Here's the bad news. I forgot to bring my camera!!! Can you believe it? I was SOOOO disappointed. Rachel forgot hers too, so we were hooped. We ran into some friends (Dan & Monika) before the concert and when we told them that we forgot our cameras, the first thing Monika said was, "How are you going to blog about this?" I love it when people who aren't bloggers, get my blogging obsession and indulge me. Thanks, Monika. My friends Brenda, Karen and Carmen were at the concert too, and Bren remembered to bring her camera, but they bought tickets last minute and had nose bleed seats, so the pics are a little far away, but better than nothing.

Thanks to Rachel for going with me and for driving her smashed up truck. :)

Thanks to Bren for remembering her camera.

Thanks to BNL for a great night out and for making me laugh.

Thanks to Z95.3 for the tickets. Here's to me winning some for Gwen Stefani!!

Baby Showers

Hello, hello!! I'm back. I've been without a computer for awhile (still am, actually, but Jennie's being wonderful and letting me steal time on her computer) and it's been really hard not being able to catch up on all my blogger pals lives, so it's been fun to sit here for a couple of hours and do some reading!!

First of all, at one of the baby showers that I'm about to talk about, there were a few girls who told me that they enjoy reading my blog, so I want to send a shout out to all those girls and remind you to feel free to leave a comment anytime. I love hearing people's ideas/views/comments.

In mid-January I attended a shower for my friend, Jody who had a beautiful baby girl who they names Amazia. I don't get to see Jody too often anymore, so it was nice to catch up and hang out. Congrats, Jody and Chris.

Then, in late January, I went to a shower for my friend Pam who had a little baby boy named Eric, who looks just like Daddy. Our other friend Pam hosted a shower for her and here are a few pics.

Proud Mama and baby. It seems like just yesterday I was in your wedding, Pam. My, how time flies. I'm soooo happy for you and Jeremy.

My wonderful friend, Lori, helped me make a baby quilt for little Eric. This process was much easier and a LOT quicker than the first one, and still fun to make. (Vain side note: Pam is really a very tiny girl, so I'm not really as huge as I look in this picture .. granted, my hair can be quite huge at times, so maybe I am as huge as I look ... anyways, just wanted to add that because I'm vain sometimes)

Little Eric gazing into Mommy's eyes and holding her pinky while feeding. So cute!

Congrats to both Jody & Chris and Pam & Jeremy on their new little bundles. It will be fun to watch them grow over time and see how you blossom as parents.

A Retirement, 2 Proposals and the best line EVER!!!

Warning (again): Grey's Anatomy discussion again. If you haven't watched it yet ... well, you know the drill.

Ok, I know it's been a week since my last post and that last one was about Grey's then, too, but what can I say, it was a boring week (except for when this mean lady at work said something totally rude to me and 4 of us stood there with our mouths gaping at her in disbelief and my boss TOTALLY stood up for me and told her off ... oh yeah, that was awesome). But other then that, it was boring, except for Grey's last night.

Here’s the scene: Derek yelled at Meredith for something that I think he had a little bit of a right to be upset with her about, but not enough to yell at her and then walk away. She leaves work without him and goes home. He shows up at her place and apologizes for yelling at her, to which this conversation follows:

Meredith: “You yell at me, walk away and then show up here.”
Derek: “Of course I show up here. That’s how relationships work.”
Meredith: “How am I supposed to know that?”
Derek: “Oh my goodness. You’ve never done this before.”
Meredith: “No, I’ve never done this before.”
Derek: “Well, here’s how it works. I will always show up. Even after I yell. Even after you yell. That’s how it works. I’m always going to show up.”

I’m always going to show up!!!! Is that not the best line you’ve ever heard on TV and/or in a movie? And I love that it’s a guy saying it to a girl and teaching a girl about how relationships work for once. It always seems like girls are doing the hard work and trying to “change” the guy into who they want him to be or teach him how to be in a relationship. It was sooooo great. Ok, I’m not currently in a relationship, but I can still appreciate a good line. Well done, writers.

Not sure how The Chief will stay on the show with him retiring and his wife not taking him back. I like him, though, so I hope he stays. But if he doesn't, I hope they bring in someone new to take over The Chief's position. I definitey don't want to see Burke, McSteamy or Addison to get it. I would be ok with Derek getting it, but I think it would be fun to bring in new blood.

Also, I was shocked when both Burke and George proposed. George’s was sweet, Burke’s was stupid. You just played a game of “who can keep quiet the longest” and now you want to marry her? Are you mature enough for that? I think not. I hope Callie says yes and Christina says no. Oh, and I hope George didn’t really break Callie’s Va-Jay-Jay (especially if they’re going to get married). :)

And what’s up with ER being a re-run AGAIN? I want to find out what happens to Abby with that psycho in her house. Scaaaaaaary!

Hopefully something non-boring will happen in my life next week so I don't only post about non-reality. Until then ... remember. I'm always going to show up! Sigh!

One Club I DON'T Want To Join

Warning: Grey's Anatomy discussion about to ensue (in case you've taped it but haven't watched it yet or are watching previous seasons on DVD and haven't caught up yet)

Ok, did anyone else cry like a baby last night? I was Boo Hoo'ing all over the place. Yes, I admit ... I even pulled out the ugly cry. Wow. That was hard to watch. As I'm crying I'm telling myself, "Your eyes are going to be all puffy tomorrow," but I couldn't stop ... and sure enough, puffy eyes this morning. It was hard to find where I could put my eyeliner. Just not a pretty sight. And I went to sleep with a headache and woke up with one, too. Thanks, George. I'm glad I watched that episode alone.

And what's up with Alex and Maddison? Not sure if I like those two as a possible couple. I guess once you've dated a "bad boy," it's hard to go back. :) Doesn't she seem much more mature and a bit older than him? Not that I'm not all for women dating younger men, but they don't really seem to "fit" to me. Maybe it'll grow on me. Although that kiss was pretty great.

And have you heard about the fight between the guy who plays George (T.R. Knight) and the guy who plays Dr. Burke (Isaiah Washington)? Wow. Those guys really are good actors though, because when George takes his Dad's chart in to Dr. Burke, they seem like the best of friends. Did you see T.R. Knight on Ellen the other day? He confirmed that Isaiah DID call him that "bad name." I was a little surprised. I thought the media had blown that out of proportion, but he confirmed it was true. I wonder if he'll lose his job over it. It's not like he's had many lines over the last couple of episodes what with him and Christina giving each other the silent treatment. How juvenile is that? Great relationshiop tactic. Stupid.

Anyways, that's my Grey's recap. Did I miss anything?

The Light of the World

A couple of Sundays ago we had a guest speaker at church named Jeff Bucknam. He spoke on Revelation 3:14 - 20 which says:

14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, he faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

He talked a lot about being lukewarm and how do you act when the "cameras" aren't on you. He said that everyone has a hole inside that they need to fill and that everyone is drawn to a higher power. Evidence for that is when something bad happens to people, they automatically cry out to God to help them. It's a normal reaction. And then he talked about verse 20 and how God stands at the door and knocks. He doesn't pressure us, but lets us make our own decisions. He used an amazing illustration that totally hit me.



This is a painting entitled, The Light of the World, by Holman Hunt. He said that it's a painting of Jesus standing at the door and knocking. When he showed it to his friend, his friend said, "This painting is wrong. There's no latch on this door." Holman Hunt replied, "It's not wrong. The door Jesus stands at can only be opened from the inside."


Wow, what a great reminder that Jesus is always waiting outside our door and only we can let Him in.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Last night someone bound and gagged me and forced me to sign up for … the Sun Run!!! Ok, I wasn’t bound and gagged and I wasn't necessarily forced, but I went to the registration, asked a lot of questions and eventually got talked into it (hey, you get 2 free shirts!). There’s no turning back now. Money has exchanged hands and some of my co-workers and friends have signed up, so I’m committed. Am I crazy? I’ve never run 10 km before. When I was in better shape last year I could run 5 km, but I’ve never pushed myself to do 10 km. Thursday night is our first training session. Here’s to hoping the instructor doesn’t laugh wildly when he/she sees me and says, “Yeah, right!”

I'm going to die!!! (or so I thought)

On Jan. 3, I had to fly over to Nanaimo for work. I don't know if you remember, but that week we had some pretty bad rain and wind storms, so I was a little scared to fly. Ok, maybe "a little scared" is an understatement. When they told me I had a choice of flying or taking the ferry, I had to decide if I wanted to say, "I'm going to be sick," for 2 hours on the ferry or "I'm going to die," for 20 minutes on the plane. I decided that the flight was the lesser of two evils. I said my goodbyes to my co-workers in case the flight took my oh-too-young life and made a VERY short will out. Jennie asked for my flip flops and Bren would get my U2 collection (not much else to my name). :) The morning of my flight, I woke up early and saw that it was raining. Not a good start. As I was getting ready at 5:20 am, my phone beeped letting me know that I had a text message. "Who would be text messaging me this early in the morning?" I thought. Well, obviously Jennie sensed how scared I was and her oh-so-sweet text message said, "I am praying for you and will continue throughout the day." Now that's a true friend. Ok, I found out later that she didn't get up especially to send me that text, but her daughter woke her up and she looked at the clock and remembered that I would be up early that morning and took the time to send me that text. It really did help me to know someone was praying. When I got to the terminal which was ON THE WATER (yes, that's freaky to me) right next to Canada Place, I looked around and everyone was just sitting there reading their papers and chatting like everything was normal. People! We are about to fly over the water, it's raining and windy. Does no one else see this? There was even a little girl there and she didn't look scared. What's wrong with these people? 12 people boarded the plane (the little girl said goodbye to her mom and got on by herself ... HERSELF ... and still didn't look scared). Almost as soon as we took off, it stopped raining and the skies cleared! I was soooooo happy, but I must say that the 2 bumps we had on the way over (yes, I counted them) sure do feel a lot bigger in a tiny plane than any turbulance I've encountered on the big planes. They took my bag from me on the way over, so I didn't have my camera, so these pics are from my flight back.

This is the plane ... I know, scary, hey?

Tight fit, but there were 12 of us, plus the pilot inside.

I was on the wrong side of the plane to get really good pictures of the downed trees in Stanley Park, but this is the one that I did get. Very sad.

Lion's Gate Bridge

Landing in Vancouver Harbour

It turned out to be a really great experience. If you're going over to the Island and you don't need a vehicle once you get to the other side, flying is the way to go!

Well, 4 posts in one day. I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to go home now and leave Jennie alone.

One last post about 2006

Ok, thanks for baring with me on the catch up of my blogging (and thanks to Jennie for putting up with me for a night of using her computer to do the catching up on).

One night before Christmas my girlfriends and I decided to have a little Christmas gift exchange get together. There was great food, great conversation and a great game of gift exchange (Karen, I'm not making any other comments ... aren't you proud of me?) :)

Thanks ladies for always making the time to keep up our friendships, especially in the hectic time around Christmas. You guys rock! Best wishes in the new year.

Ok, that's enough about 2006. Bring on 2007!!!

Other Christmas happenings

So, I figured I should talk about other things that happened at Christmas other than my quilt. Even though I was sick and completely lost my voice on Christmas Eve morning, I had a great time with my sister and her family.

This is a pic of the kids when they opened the Step Up DVD I got them. We all LOVE this movie! I won't tell you how many times I've seen it. :)

This is a pic of my sis with the Willow Tree Angel of Hope that I got her. Before Christmas her and I were talking on the phone about a situation that she's going through, and I said, "Don't give up hope," and she said, "Oh no. I KNOW things are going to change." That was a great lesson to me because it was one of those situations where someone could easily give up hope, but she definitely wasn't.

And this is a pic of me and my sis sitting outside her front door. I didn't know my sister too well growing up because she's 10 years older than me, but now we are great friends and I love her dearly. Thanks for hosting us, Care and Fred, and for a great Christmas. Sorry, Fred. I realized when I got home that I didn't take any pics of you. :(

U2 Video Clips

I know I'm going back in time here. I've already talked about Christmas and I'm going back to the U2 concert, but I wanted to post some videos, so here goes.

One


With or Without You


Keep on Rockin' in the Free World (with Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam)


Good times, good times. Ok, I think I'm done boring you with the U2 details now. BTW - these are only 3 of my 17 videos, so consider yourselves lucky! :)

My Christmas Project

I always have a hard time knowing what to buy my parents for Christmas, and on Nov. 22 the bright idea came to me to make them a quilt. My friend Lori had made a beautiful quilt for her niece, so I asked her if she'd take on the task of showing me how to make one in less than a month. She was crazy enough to accept (which I love) and off we went. I even decided to make it extra special and put pictures on it. One side had pics of my family now with the bro-in-laws and nieces and nephews and the other side had my parents wedding pic in the middle and pics of my siblings and I as little kids, as well as a pic of each of my parents with their siblings. Quite the task, you may think ... and it was. First to pick out the fabric.

Then I had a lot of cutting to do. 420 squares! Phewf! Then I sewed an X through all the squares and had to piece together the puzzle. That was actually quite fun. Lori and I looked over it and over it and made sure there were no two of the same fabric beside each other and no two colors that were similar touching one another. Let me tell you ... two sets of eyes are better than one.

I had a few snags figuring out how to get the pictures printed onto the right fabric and how to treat them so they didn't wash away. I was so worried that I'd take it out of the wash and there would be blank squares. I told Lori that if that happened, I'd be getting out a sharpie pen and drawing in stick figures of my family, but luckily that didn't happen. Then came the long hours of sewing together each square.

To make a rag quilt, you have to snip each hem/border of each square. That took a looooooong time as well. Then I sewed on the border, threw it in the washing machine and VOILA, the quilt came out ragged and was finished at 2:00 pm on Thursday, Dec. 21 (did I mention that I flew out on Friday, Dec. 22).

The quilt was a big hit with my parents. My Mom kept saying that she was, "Blown away!" My sister didn't think that I made it, but when I told her that I did, her jaw dropped to the floor and she was speachless. It was really quite funny. I have it on video. Anyways, thank you, Lori for all your help (and thanks to Marni for lending me her sewing machine). It was a fun project to do and I look forward to doing more (yes, Lori does teach "classes" on how to do it, so if you're interested, let me know).

Even though it took me 50 hours, my Mom and Dad are totally worth it. I love you very much and hope you have many more years to enjoy the quilt (but remember that it gets bequeathed to me first). :)