Day 30!!!!!!!

I did it..................I can't believe it, but I managed to blog for 30 days in row.  It was fun but I do not think I could continue to do this all year long.  There has been so much enjoyment from this exercise.  Learning different things I can do with Blogger was fun too.

Today, I leave you with some more photos from the Atrium at Sam's Town in Las Vegas.

The theme was Santa's workshop.  There were little elves everywhere working on making those toys for all the good little girls and boys.

They even had a loading zone area.  Getting those packages ready to load into Santa's sleigh.

They are just adorable and really made all of us smile.

I have never been anywhere that has been so cute.  If I had to choose a second favorite, it would be the window displays on Macy's or Wanamaker's or Goldman's.  I don't even know if those stores do that anymore.  It has been over 30 years since I have been into a BIG city with those stores.

Until next time.....................happy crafting!!!

Day 29 photo heavy

 We are home.  It feels wonderful to know I will be sleeping in my bed again tonight.  Oh, how I miss my bed when we are away.

I have lots of photos to share with you.  So let's get started.

One of my favorite scenes in Arizona.  I love our mountainous landscape.  Look at all the different elevations displayed here.

Crossing the bridge over Hoover Dam.  You no longer have drive over the actual dam.  It does cut down on the drive time.

Once you cross the bridge you are in Nevada.

Just one of the Christmas displays in the atrium at our hotel.  Love the little teddy bears on the tree.

This is lake Mead.  See the light colored line?  That is how dry it has been in our neck of the woods for the past MANY years.  Our water table is extremely low.

Crossed the bridge on the way home and we are now back in Arizona.

Some of our strange rock outcroppings we have.

Joshua Tree........There is about 10 miles that is just covered with these strange looking succulents.

Yes, this is an actual 'town' in Arizona.  And the name tells you exactly what is there other than a cell tower.

I bet you all thought Bagdad was a place overseas...............................we have one too.

The Phoenix skyline.  So nice to see it.  This signals we are getting pretty close to being home.

I want to give a shout out to Samsung S7 edge..................all of these photos were taken with that phone.  Many of them from a moving car too.  I am impressed with the quality.  As for the overcast skies in some of these......................not the camera's fault.  But it was nice to drive on an overcast day.

Tomorrow I will post a few more photos of our trip.  Most of them will be of the atrium at the casino.  It was so cute.

Until next time.....................happy crafting!

PS:  No, we did not win anything but had a wonderful relaxing time.

Day 28

 

I can hardly believe I have posted for 28 days in a row!  This has been so much fun to do.

Today, I was able to upload a couple of photos without waiting for 20 minutes for them to finish.  

This is where we are staying in Las Vegas.  We have been coming to this casino for about 5 years now.  It is like a second home to us.  They just remodeled the rooms and they are super nice.

The bingo tournament was a blast but we did not win anything there.  We met some of the nicest people and were informed about other tournaments coming up.  I think we might one back up for one in March.

Sam's Town is known for their laser light show.  We were finally able to take it in tonight.

This is just one of many photos I took as well as a couple of videos.  That's good old Frosty the Snowman.  I will post more after I get home.

We leave tomorrow for home.  We had a blast and it was good to get out of town for a few days.  I miss my bed though. LOL

Until next time.......happy crafting!

Day 27

This will be a boring post.

I am trying to upload photos to my laptop but......................this is the slowest WIFI connection ever.  So...................there will be lots of photos when I return home Wednesday.

So far we are having fun and I know we will really enjoy the tournament today and tomorrow.  This place is all decorated for Christmas and there are tons of photos of that too.

Whoot....................I got a photo to load!!!!

This is a photo of tailings from the open pit copper mines here in Arizona.  This state is rich in copper.  The only issue is............these tailings just sit there.  My father in law worked the mines all the time I knew him.  It is fascinating to learn about how they mine the copper.

Guess I better get a move on.  Hubby is all ready to go for our free breakfast buffet.  YUM!

until next time........happy crafting!

WEEK 22/ Day 26

Hello to all of you my blogging buddies.  Another week has past and we have 30 weeks left to complete our lists that we made 22 weeks ago.  How are you all doing?  I looked at my list and WHOA............................I have completed 1 item on my WIP list and the only other thing I have done according to plan is to have a shawl on my needles/hook at all times.  Otherwise..............I am way off.  I have added too many other projects to my list.  Good thing we are not graded on how well we follow instructions.  LOL

This week has seen me making more of the mini sweaters.  I have atleast 7 to make and would really like to make many more than that.  I have many people who would be thrilled to have them.  I will just continue making them until Christmas time and see where I am at.

Here is what I have done this week.=:

The pink one and the purple one on the needles have been spoken for.  I have bunches of ends to sew in.  It seems I enjoy sitting down and just sewing in ends for an evening rather than doing them one sweater at a time.  It that strange?  This is still an enjoyable project for me.  I am hoping I can get many more done over the next week. We will see.

Other than that I have this to announce:

I have made it 26 days without forgetting.  Monday and Tuesday will be the challenge.  I am in Vegas and my time is limited here.  Our bingo tournament is 8 hours long and by the time we are done I am usually pretty much toast.  I will try my best.  This is the first year I have tried to do NaBloPoMo and I would really like to succeed.

Tomorrow I will post some photos of our trip up here and maybe of some interesting people at the casino.  I promise not to show faces.  Privacy is important to me.

When hubby and I get home, I am going to be in a mad rush to get my house ready for Christmas.  This year is my mom's 90th birthday and we have lots of people coming in to help celebrate it.  I only have 2 people staying with me.  That doesn't mean the others will not be coming over to eat and talk and enjoy some family time. After they all leave, we have friends from Vegas that will be down for a few days.  They will spend one day with us and always look forward to seeing our decorations.  We are kind of known for all the stuff we do to our house for this season.  Our decorations stay up until January 6th (Epiphany) so we really get to enjoy them for quite a while.

I also have some Christmas baking to get going once we get back home.  I have 8 hours worth of chex party mix to make, ginger bread cookies, Hanukkah Stars and Rolo Pretzels.  So I need at least a week to get all of those done.  

Anyway, I will keep you all informed of what is going on at Casa de Noce.

Until next time............................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!

Day 25

I am amazed that I have managed to post for 25 days.  Then next 3 days will be a challenge.  We will not be home for those 3 days.  I have tried writing blogs ahead of time and having them post at a specific time but alas..................it has never worked for me.  I will probably write tomorrow's post later tonight and just post it when I get to an area with WIFI.

I have a song going through my mind............................♫♩♫♬All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go♩♫♬♪♪.  Yup, Hubby and I are heading off to Vegas tomorrow.  We are in a BINGO tournament again.  (That's what old retired folk do)  We will stop off and see his mom tomorrow afternoon and take her out if she wants.  It is a quick visit this time.  We will be returning on Wednesday...................hopefully with a couple of $$ in our pocket.

Guess I better go and make sure I have all the snacks packed as well as my knitting.  Not sure what I an going to take yet...............I have choices.

Until next time...........................happy crafting!

Day 24

Ahhhhhh...............I am finally home for the day.  Let me start with our celebration yesterday.

This was the place settings for each of us.  This is my mother's china and her turkey napkin rings.  My Daughter in Law promised to use the china for each holiday as long as my mother was alive.  She has kept her word too.

The candlestick holders were also my mother's as were the turkey placemats.  It was a lovely dinner.  Everything tasted so good but I was soooooooo full when we were done.  I kind of just rolled out of my chair.

Yesterday was also the wedding anniversary of the host and hostess of our celebration.  That being said, we offered to take the grand home with us for the night so they could have some alone time and maybe even have a date night.

This morning I had a nail appointment and took the grand with me.  She was anticipating an hour of just hanging around when this happened:

I treated her to a nice pedicure.  She was in dire need of one and loved it.  My normal nail guru was not there (I knew this before hand) so I had a different tech today.  Not super happy with the outcome of my nails and was not informed the price of the 'new' polish I selected was an additional cost.  Will not be going back to that tech but will wait for mine to come back from vacation the next time.  Lesson learned.

After our spa treatment we went to lunch at Panda Express.  She loves that place and I have not issue eating there either.  My hubby is not big on oriental food so when she is with me, we go for it!  As soon as lunch was over we headed off to a black Friday LuLaRoe open house.  We each found several pieces of clothing to compliment our wardrobes and got them at a super duper price.

I had to hurry to get her home.  Her girl scout troop is in a parade tonight and she needed to get her costume and hair done for it.  Her troop is going to be handing out candy and they are supposed to be Grinchs.  It is a light parade, so all the costumes are required to have at least 100 lights on them.  I got to weave lights into her tutu and then help to staple lights onto her mom's sweater.  Dad's sweater got done by Mom, so that was good.

You have got to see this hairdo:

There is a red solo cup on top of her head and pipe cleaners in her braids.  Love it!  Her mom is fantastic at doing hair.

I am not home and have put all my clothing away.  I had a couple of packages in the mail today also. One had leggings in it and the other jewelry for gifts.  That has all been sorted and put away and I am not thinking of dinner.  We brought home leftover turkey for sandwiches and we also got some pumpkin pie from yesterday.  Sounds like my type of dinner tonight.

I have a couple loads of laundry I need to do so I can get our clothes together for our trip.  Hubby would also like for me to bake some more Malachi's cookies for the trip.  I guess I am going to be very busy for the next 36 hours.

Until next time...........................happy crafting! 

Thanksgiving Day..................................23

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I was going to wait until after we had our Thanksgiving celebration, to post to my blog.  I will have photos by then.  I figured I can post those photos tomorrow.

Right now I am doing a bit of laundry.  I just pulled out a loaf of bread from the bread machine.  Hubby is watching football.  There is cheese and summer sausage to be cut to take for snacks today.  

Other than that, it has been a lazy morning.  I am not rushing around to do anything.  The above chores are being done at my pace.  We do not need to be to my Son's until 2 and dinner is not until 4.  No big rush for anything today.  

Hubby and I still have adoration tonight at 9.  That being said, we will be coming home shortly after dinner.  That gives my son and his family time to themselves too.  It is their wedding anniversary today too!  Nothing like having a double whammy going on.

May I just say,.........................I am extremely thankful for all of you who read my blog.  I am thankful for my extended knitting family from whom I have learned so much and have received so much love from.  I am so blessed.  There is no way I could even begin to list all the things I am thankful for.  The Lord has been very good to me.  Tonight, during adoration, I will bring to my mind all the blessings I have received and thank God for them.

Until next time...............................Happy Crafting!

22nd Day

Howdy.  Can you believe that we are almost out of the month of November?  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day for those of us in America.  A day to think about all the blessings each of us has and be thankful for all those blessings....no matter how big or small.  It is also a day of food and family.  Hubby and I will be at our Son's home.  I will have more to say about that tomorrow.

Today..............hubby had another post op visit with his ENT Doctor.  He is healing but it is just taking a looooong time.  We see the Doctor again in 2 more weeks and hopefully we will be discharged completely then.  It will be hard to not see this Doctor again for a while.  We have actually become friends with him and have so enjoyed our visits with him.

After the appointment, we headed to Costco to pick up a few items we forgot the last time we were there.  I was surprised.  The store was not as horrible as I thought it would be the day before Thanksgiving.  We were in and out in less than 30 minutes.

I visited my mom this afternoon.  I won't be back out to see her for a week.  Lucky for me, my son and daughter will fill in for me while I am gone.

After visiting my mom, I stopped off at one of my local LuLaRoe dealers and picked up some clothes I had ordered and also picked up my BFF's order too.  I took BFF's clothes over to her and then I got home.

I have programmed the TV to record all the new Hallmark Christmas movies until December 9th.  The TV won't let me go beyond the 8th at this time.  We have watched all other new movies that were recorded prior to today.  This is a tradition we started about 4 years ago.  We love watching them in the evening just before bed.  They are always wholesome and have a happy ending.  Like having a bedtime story read to you.

That is all for today.  I have not touched my mini sweaters in over 24 hours.  I still have 2 done and a third one on the needles.  I did get one sleeve almost completed and still have another sleeve to go.  Maybe I can finish that tonight and start on another one.  I will be able to work on them tomorrow while waiting for dinner to get completed.  Might get another one done tomorrow too!

Until next time...........................happy crafting!

Day 21

Oh my.............it was such a busy day for they hubby and myself.  We left the house this morning around 10 and returned around 3.  We did get a lot of stuff done that was on my 'to do' list though.

I got my blood work done..............I was only 2 months behind in that.  It's not that I am afraid of getting the blood drawn.  I don't mind it at all.  The issue is.......the lab is not convenient to go to and I hate to sit there and wait for my turn.  I was fortunate today.  It was only a 15 minute wait and the lady that pulled my blood was quick and efficient.  I was in and out in about 5 minutes.  WOOHOO!

We left there and headed to Best Buy.  You will not hear me say the name of that store too often.  We have had issues with them in the past and try and avoid them at all costs.  But....Hubby needed a bluetooth mouse to go with his new Laptop he got from me for Christmas.  (Yes, I know it is not Christmas yet but the prices were so great right now and I needed him to pick out the one he wanted)  It also saves me from having to wrap it LOL.

From there we went to the bank.  Hubby wanted to get the $$$ for our trip next weekend.  It didn't take him very long in the bank.  I couldn't believe how quickly he was in and out.  Turns out, he did not have his driver's license on him so could not get any $$$.  I got the pleasure of going in the bank and pulling the money out.  Of course, by this time, hubby is a bit nervous about where his DL is at.  I am pretty sure I know where it is and this means he has been driving without it for almost 2 weeks! 

After that, we headed out to return some supplies that my mom had that she could not use.  The place we had to go to was quite a bit away from my 'normal area' that I travel in.  The lady there was so nice and sweet.  It was well worth the drive and my mom now has a $77 credit on her account with them.  WOOHOO.  That was a win win situation.

By this time it is lunch time.  We both are hungry and in an area we seldom go to.  I remember about a great BBQ place in the town we are in and suggest that for lunch.

This held ice cold home made root beer!  It was fantastic.  Hubby and I are still full from lunch.  Tonight's dinner may be tomorrow night's dinner.  While at this establishment, we actually got to talk to the owner.  What a pleasant and kind man.  We might just have to venture into this city again for some more good eats.

I am hoping we are on the downside of our errand running, but, no.........We stop at a special store to pick up a gallon of Worcestershire sauce so I can make my Chex Party Mix and hubby can make more jerky.  We also found the BBQ cleaning brush there that hubby loves along with a big jar of our favorite dill pickles.  Well worth the stop.

Off we went from there to get our water jugs filled with RO water, for our water cooler.  It must have been 'fill your water jugs day'.  There was a lady in front of us that had 40 gallons worth of water jugs and another gentleman that had 15 one gallon water jugs.  Our jugs are 2 gallons and we have 7 of them.  They were all empty too.  As we were finishing up our filling, another couple came in and they had 5 five gallon jugs to fill.  

Next stop..............Petco to pick up the CET chews for our dogs.  Those chews help keep their teeth clean.  It is the one the Vet recommends for our dogs.  I never worry about them splintering or choking my pups.  They get one a week and it seems to help a lot too.

After that.................the last stop was CVS to pick up my RX for my RA.  I have not really been taking it.  Since I started on the Turmeric, I have not had too much issue with my RA.  I decided to go ahead and pick it up as it is close to the end of the year and a new deductible will be hitting us January 1.  I wanted to go through the drive through but................One of our lovely winter visitors was there.  Normally not an issue but after 10 minutes I decided going inside would be quicker.  I asked them if that car was waiting for their RX to be filled and was told no......they were waiting for the pharmacist to come and talk to them.  Really?  Then why did the pharmacy tech that was filling their bottle hustle over to the window and hand them their drugs?  The pharmacist was on the other side of the room and he never did go over to the window to talk to them.  They were still there when I left!  How rude is that?  I expressed my thoughts (very nicely) and was told there was nothing they could do about that.  First semi-rude person I had met all day.

Hubs and I are now home and I am exhausted.  I did get the dishwasher emptied and have been doing a bit more research on healthy treats for the upcoming holidays.  I have gotten a couple of yummy sounding cookie recipes.  Now I am looking for sweet treats.  Not having much luck though.

The mini sweater will be worked on in a little bit while I watch some mindless TV tonight.  Tomorrow hubby has his final post op check up and we need to stop off at Costco and pick up a few supplies.  I am also going to visit my mom tomorrow so I can enjoy Thanksgiving day with the other part of my family.

Until next time................happy crafting!

Day 20

Good afternoon.  It has been a beautiful day here.  A gentle breeze and mid 80's for the high today.  I woke up this morning and it was 48 outside.  Love that crisp morning air.  Gets my blood flowing.

I have started on more mini sweaters.  Actually, I started on them last night.  I already have 2 done and a third one started.  I figured I needed at least 11 more of them for family and friends.  I would like to do twice that many and give them to my Prayer Shawl ladies too.  I will see how it goes.  Since we are taking a road trip next week, I will have some knitting time in the car and I should be able to complete at least 2 on the way up and on the way back.  Now that I have the pattern memorized, I don't need to look at my paper anymore.

I was asked for the pattern link...........................sorry, but the pattern I am using is from a magazine.  However............I did peruse Ravelry and found this one on there.  Very similar to mine.  For next year, I am thinking of doing other little items for trees.  Here is a bunch of mini's for the tree.  I will most definitely start earlier next year too.  

I baked a loaf of bread today.  We are  having this:

For dinner tonight.  I thought some fresh homemade bread would taste mighty good with it.  Hubby got it all in the crockpot for me as I was out visiting my mom when cooking time was supposed to start.

While at my mom's we finished this today.

Yes, I know there is a piece missing.  I found it after I had taken the puzzle apart and put it in the box.  I did add the missing piece to the box.  This is what mom and I do most of the time I go and visit.  We work puzzles together.  It gives us a common interest that she can still participate in.

Tonight, I am going to look through Pinterest.  I am looking for healthy ideas for Christmas/New Years snacks.  I want to make my own but do not want it to be so high in sugar it puts us into diabetic comas LOL.  I will make my normal Chex Mix Party Mix.  But instead of all the fudge, rolo pretzels, rice krispie treats and butterscotch haystacks, I want to find healthier alternatives.  I am sure it will be a challenge but a good learning experience for me.  I may have to email our nutritionist and ask for her assistance on this.  

If any of you have healthy ideas for me................let me know.  I am super excited to try new things this year.

Until next time....................happy crafting!

YOP WEEK 21/ DAY 19

Time is marching along and it is getting so close to Christmas..........I have some shopping done and some crafting done.  I wish it was all done LOL.  I need to sit down and make out my list of recipients.  That is usually my best way of making sure I have everything covered. I am not making many gifts this year.  Mostly what you have already seen and those really are not gifts but just a little bit of love to be spread around.

I finished the wee sweaters that needed to be sent to Texas.  They were boxed up and shipped out this afternoon.  It should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Hopefully, they will be met with smiles from everyone.  The black one and the one to the right of it, are for the 2 dogs, Shiloh and Bandit.  Shiloh is a black lab/boxer mix and Bandit is her biological brother who is black and white.  

I now need to get busy and make some more for my other out of town grands so they can get mailed soon also.  After all the out of towners are completed, I will make the ones for the local folks.  I think I will be making sweaters for the next couple of weeks.  I now have 2 of the patterns memorized.  The only one I need to refer to the pattern for is the Cabled sweater.

I did work on my prayer shawl for a few hours on Thursday.  Other than that, no other knitting or crocheting has taken place here.

I was supposed to get with my knitting instructor this coming Tuesday, but he had something come up so that got cancelled again.  I will give him a call after I return from our little mini vacay we are taking after Thanksgiving.

On to my other news.

My daughter called this morning and we had such a lovely chat.  I always have a smile when I get off the phone with her.  We talked about holiday baking/cooking today.  She is making a couple of my recipes for her Christmas open house she is hosting this year.  I am so proud of her and her husband.  They are such loving and caring people.  They are always there when ever someone is in need.  They make my heart sing with joy.

The rest of my day has been spent finishing up the Texas sweaters and getting it mailed off.  I had really planned on getting it out of here long before noon today but..............I really slept in.  I did not get up until after 8 and that is just not like me.  I guess all those days when I only get about 5 hours of sleep, caught up with me.

I have some general housework to do today.  We did big box store shopping on Friday and neither of us have taken the time to completely put it all away.  I will finish that up this afternoon.  Then I will be making my Christmas list and working on my journals and trying to get my meals planned for the next week.

I have managed to keep up with the laundry this past week, so I don't have to rush to do that today.  YIPPEE!!

We normally put up our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving.  I don't think we will be doing that this year.  I have 3 appointments on Friday, starting at 10 and going until 2. Then I need to get out our suitcases and decide what we are going to take with us to Vegas on Sunday and do any laundry that is needed.  I like to do that a couple of days ahead of the trip.  That way, we are not rushing around at midnight the night before we drive somewhere.  Hubby is a last minute packer and it drives me bonkers.  LOL

Maybe we can start our decorating on Saturday and at least get our tree up.  Then when we get home from Vegas, we can finish up the rest of the house.  This is the only holiday I decorate for and I go all out.  We collect nativity sets.  At one point, we had over 150 of them gracing our home and tree.  I have since, given a few away to family members and only put about 20 out each year.  I do switch them up each year though.  Makes it more interesting that way.  They go into every room of our home, even the bathrooms.  We believe that Jesus is the reason for the season and spread it all over our house, inside and OUTSIDE too.

Ok, need to get busy.  Hubby is watching football so this is my prime time to do a little housekeeping.  

Until next time..................happy crafting!!!!!!

Day 18

Got a quick update.  It has been a pretty low key day for me.  I mostly sat an knit on the wee sweaters.  I will have a photo for tomorrow's YOP update.

Today I have this to  show you:

This is Enrique.  He is sound asleep and snoring loudly.  He snores a lot LOL.  This looks so uncomfortable to me.

I did receive a couple of pieces of LuLaRoe in the mail this week'

This is a Maxi skirt and I love the colors in it.  The Maxi is my go to for casual and or semi dressed up.  Add a few accessories and it is very dressy.

Today I got this:

It is a top called an Irma.  I love it since it is longer in the back than the front and covers a lot of real estate.  This will go great with all my black, leggings, pencil skirts and maxi skirt.  I actually won this one which makes it even sweeter.

That is it for today.  I need to finish 2 more little sweaters before noon tomorrow. That's when they need to be at the post office for mailing.

Until next time.......................happy crafting!

Day 17

Went to a funeral this morning.  Spent 5 hours shopping afterwards.  Went to dinner with hubby.  Finally home.

This is me:

Until tomorrow.........Happy Crafting!