Finally finished!

Hello!
Hope you are having a good Holiday season! We finally decorated our tree last night. Scott baked 4 kinds of cookies. I ordered gifts through the mail and they are coming in slowly! Seems like I am ready. Speaking of gifts... Ryder asked for a drawing desk - I found it for less than half price on Amazon. All the Amazon boxes show up without descriptions of what is inside - good for gift giving! Well, not this one. Guess it came from the company but on the back was printed the contents and on the front there was a PICTURE!!! Ryder doesn't answer the door often - but, of course, he answered the door and knew exactly what was in it. We just let him take it to his room and put it together. Big gift - 2 weeks early grrrrr.

Futura drafting table

We ended up cancelling our Canadian trip - boo - the tickets for the ferry and hotel were refundable. Guess it was a good thing after all - we had a winter storm and probably wouldn't have been able to drive the 4 hours north to catch the ferry. The Vegas trip is still on - since we only have to pay for me. That ticket is non-refundable so I am definitely going.
I am not going to be able to go to school. I am looking for work in dispatch again. I had forgotten how much work goes into getting a job in dispatch. I have two tests to take and a huge packet of background information to fill out. That is for two different agencies. Keep your fingers crossed - well when you aren't stitching.
I had some finishes - some stuff you have seen but now completed and some you haven't seen yet.

Jeannette Douglas Acorn Shaker Box

 I changed the variegated thread color - it's different on each. Somehow I stitched the first one on the wrong count fabric! Scott thought they would be cute on the jar tops.

Scary One - Plum Street Samplers

Witches Night Out - Branda Gervais

yes another bag

with a made by tag in it HA

Juggling Snowflakes - Brenda Gervais smaller one is Plum Street Samplers - Merry Two

I ordered the Juggling Snowflakes limited edition kit from Brenda Gervais - then I ordered more snowflake tealights.( to search for them you have to put in primitive snowflake tealight and make sure you get the ones that are 4 inches across the entire snowflake) Who knew there were two sizes. I ordered the "Tarnish" fabric from Picture This Plus and more of the right size snowflakes so the full kit will be on eBay soon.(I have some patterns on eBay that close tomorrow STB90125)  I tried to stitch the snowman over one on the 40 count but didn't like it. Scott suggested the Santa from my Merry Two pillow - good idea!! I changed some things about it to make it fit - and of course the color of his coat. While stitching it I thought it would be cute as a pocket watch

I ended up making 4 snowmen and 5 Santas!! I love the way they turned out!! Now I am working on Pomegranate Santa from Plum Street Samplers. 
We ate at a Diner from the Diner Drive Ins and Dives show  - me 91, Scott 98 It was Podnahs Pit BBQ - the meat was really good. They had a mac and cheese that isn't always on the menu - that was good. Potato salad and baked beans - eh nothing special. We shared a wedge that desperately needed tomato and onion.

Here are the potstickers I made - I made a million - well 90 something. They were so good. I tried frying them and steaming - I couldn't tell a difference. 
Thanks for stopping by - hope your Holidays are happy!!

Gobble Gobble

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! My uncle Joel and Aunt Carol showed up Wednesday afternoon in time to go with me to the airport to get my mom and stepdad. We went to Fogo De Chao Brazilian steak house for Thanksgiving - so much easier than cooking!! The food was fabulous!

left side of the table towards the wall - Joel, Carol, Scott, me. Right side wall to camera-  Ryder, Mom (Diana) and Brian. After we went for a walk along the river and saw a crane - cool!

 I forgot to say it rained the entire time they were here - the ENTIRE time! Friday we went to Multnomah Falls - there were so many people there. We started at the Vista house and went towards Multnomah - Joel and Carol had a long drive back to Cape Perpetua Oregon so they had to leave before we got to Multnomah.

Even in the rain with all the people the falls are amazing! We went to the Bavarian deli - just like when Scott and I went! Mom bought me a German chocolate advent calendar. We lived in Germany for 5 years - army.

The next day we went to the ocean - still raining so there was hardly anybody there. It was beautiful and peaceful. I didn't take one picture! We walked on the beach and drove through some of the towns. Mom and Brian left on Sunday - after a trip to VooDoo Donuts! It was a nice visit!
Scott and I went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them - 3D Imax - there were only about 20 people in the theater - it was great!!

I have a thing for noodle bowl restaurants. I have to try every restaurant in the area - we ate at Ei8ht Noodle (no website) - very good. We ate at Boxer Ramen in Portland mmmmmm

Spicy Red Miso and potstickers

Tonkotsu Shio

Oh that makes me hungry. Tonight I am making potstickers - time consuming but worth it. I usually make them once a year - oddly, it's always around the holidays. I have two finishes - 

Plum Street Sampler - Scary One

 Remember my ice dying fiasco? Here and here. Well I did manage to get the pattern between the splotches

Witches Night Out - With thy Needle and Thread

That is the Vintage Country Mocha  fabric I love so much - not hand dyed (or killed) by me! I wanted to stitch some Christmas things but I need some Classic Colorwork threads and some 40ct fabric for the ones I want to do - drat!! So,  I am currently working on Nora Corbett's Halloween Fairy - you can buy it from Herrschners. It is also in a magazine (Cross Stitch and Needlework Sep 2008) - one I got from Shelly at Arizona Stitcher Fun fun!! Speaking of Arizona Stitcher - I was one of the winners for her anniversary giveaway. Happy anniversary Shelly and thanks so much!! I'm thrilled! I almost missed her post - I try to look at blogs once a day but with family here and catching up on Monday after they left - geez! Did anybody notice the last issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework - winter 2016 is the last one ever - I am sad about that! Poop!
I registered for school this week - full time starting in January. My first semester is all online, we only have one car and the school is an hour away from Scott's work.  The next semester won't be though. That means that I get to go to Vegas in January because I can take my laptop and not miss school. Scott has a work thing so I will mostly be on my own. It will be school, noodle bowls and a cross stitch store - that's my kind of Vegas fun haha!
I can't believe it's 25 days to Christmas - I haven't bought anything, decorated or baked. We have a work Christmas party Saturday. Then we go to Victoria - I can't wait!!  I hope you are having a good holiday season. Thanks for stopping by - Jingle Jingle!!

some things

I am sad. A childhood friend killed herself this week - she suffered from depression. If you feel like killing yourself please contact the suicide hotline because somebody loves you.
I am sad - people I love voted against my rights. Moving away from the sad things.
 
I was the lucky recipient of a Wisdom with Needle and Thread RAK - I am a lucky girl!!

Beautiful hand painted napkin rings - thread - a pattern and fabulous fabric!! Thanks so much Kim!!
I have a finish - actually two.

Gardener Goode Witch - With Thy Needle

 I fell in love with this witch - her hooked nose and her hat. I made another one to make into a bag!!

 then I made matching little bags - to carry around my specialty threads

which I have been putting onto clothes pins - I saw a designer do this but for the life of me I can't remember who. I think it's so cute!!

Scott and I went to Multnomah Falls this weekend - there is a historic highway and 11 (I think) falls on this road.

Multnomah Falls

Latourell Falls

 see the man in the picture above - we went up there - it was so close the spray was making water drip off my chin and eyelashes and all I could do was stand there and laugh. It was wonderful

Latourell Falls

my dearest

Vista House

Columbia River

  We stopped by Edelweiss Deli - oh my I love that place!!

Scott has an intestinal infection - he is a copycat. He is finally feeling better - last day of pills today. My mom also has an infection - they just want to be cool like me.... she had to do two rounds of meds - stubborn little thing. That is all the things I have to say. I hope you are having a good week and thanks for stopping by!!

Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz

if that ain't love, then tell me what is. That is from a Loretta Lynn song - and I actually had a chocolate liqueur drink.
We had a fantastic time in Portland this weekend!! We got to The Benson at about 3 on Friday

- gave the car to the valet and walked almost the whole weekend. The first thing we did was walk to the food trucks. there is one I love - I've only eaten there once because we have gone back twice since then and it is always closed - what the hell?!?!? So we ate noodles and dumplings at another truck. We went to Finnegan's Toys and Gifts such a fun store - I love these giant microbes.

 We went to The Spice and Tea Exchange - oh my!!

I am sure you can order it online - these flavors look so good! I haven't had any yet  - but I am looking forward to it!! Scott found a theater called "Living Room Theaters. You can order your tickets online - select which seats you want. The seats are roomy - you can order drinks (including alcohol) and dinner - they will deliver it to your seat!! We didn't eat but other people did and the food looked great! We had popcorn - air popped. The theaters are small, so there aren't too many people in there - it was fun! We saw Girl on a Train - good movie. We read the book back when it came out. The next day we walked to breakfast at Mother's Bistro and Bar - it was very good. I got to eat some of mine - potatoes with cheese mmmm but I found a hair in mine  - luckily before it ended up in my mouth. I had them bring me toast instead and I didn't have to pay for any of my meal.  We went to the Portland Saturday Market - very cool place!!

Booths and booths of art and soaps and fun things. We ate at Angelina's Greek Cuizina and had the best gyro I have EVER had - handmade pita - sooo good!! Scott bought me a ring from My Favorite Button - I picked a button and she made a ring for me. Very unique!

 I also got a silverware bracelet - I've wanted one forever!! I bought it at Spoonman Creations - they also have funny headwear!!

We walked over to Lan Su Chinese Garden - wow! Beautiful garden!!

They have a tea shop inside so we also had tea.

and a moon cake - taro

pecan cookies too

 Very peaceful place! We walked back to our hotel - got our car and drove over to Por Que No? Tacos. We have eaten there before - fabulous tacos!! Sunday we walked over to VooDoo Doughnuts -

yeah we did but we saved them for later and had breakfast at The Bijou Cafe.

Our last stop was Powell's Books the world's largest independent bookstore. It is a fabulous place. Scott likes it more than I do. He always thinks I don't like going there - but I do. Someday I will sit in the cafe - drink coffee and stitch but it has to be when we are not on Whole30 - which starts back up tomorrow. We ate wonderful food - the weather was GREAT - it rained on Sunday but we had an umbrella - we walked at least 5 miles! I really enjoyed the weekend with my honey!! We had a game - it is Halloween weekend but it was Portland so when we saw someone dressed strangely we would each decide whether they always dressed like that or because it was Halloween - I think I had more "Portland" than "Halloween" haha!
I have been meaning to mention that both Scott and Ryder have been in accidents since we moved here. I can show you the other cars from Scott's accident but not Ryder's.

No injuries and we are having our bumper replaced but there is only a crack in our bumper compared to the other cars - crazy!! Speaking of cars - I finally got my personalized plates - my letterboxing trailname "Crewel" I tried to get them in Colorado but we had to pay new car plate prices - over $400 and when the plates came in they wanted another $400 so I was going to wait until renewal time so I wouldn't have to pay twice. Indiana wasn't doing personalized because someone had abused the system and they were trying to sort it out - ugh. I love my new plates!!
I had a finish last week too

Jingle Bells by With Thy Needle - the Valdani thread kept breaking - I used two strands. I love the way it turned out!!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!! Thanks for stopping by!