The Trench

I cut my face out because I looked HORRIBLE!!! lol. Going outside in the coat was tough considering it was over 100 degrees outside. EEK!

Vogue 8597

So I finished my coat as I said yesterday but I can't post it until I get buttons on it. :) Today I made a long sleeve top for fall. I made Vogue 8597
I made view A (the gray one) but with long sleeves. I am just so ready for fall/winter. The picture stinks and it doesn't look like the color that it actually is. in fact I HATE this picture, it doesn't do this super cute top justice. It is actually a lot richer in the brown/taupe. It is the perfect length, perfect size, and it took about 45 minutes to make. Such a change from the coat which took about 6 hours total to make. (over 2 days) I totally want to make this again. Such a great payoff for time spent!

The Ice Tornado

So about 2-3 months ago we had a "microburst" here in my town. Basically what that means is a very heavy rain/wind storm blew in like a tornado and knocked down everbodys fences. We were looking outside because it started to hail pretty bad and I said "my car is going to get dented" becuase the hail was about golfball size. Then all of a sudden it started coming down like mad. We weren't sure if we should hide in the hallway (our tornado area) or not worry. The hail was hitting everything SO hard. I have literally never seen anything like it. It truly was like a tornado ran through our town. Our fence blew down of course and water seeped into our house through our window and ruined all of our laminate wood flooring. UGH. Now those of you who know me personally know that just a few years ago we had a plumbing issue that ruined our floors so badly that we had to replace them. Well we had to replace them again but I was not about to put wood floors back in. I mean I really doubt that we will get water damage again since we have taken care of those problems but seriously I don't want to deal with that. Laminate wood floors look TERRIBLE when they have water damage. They get all warped. We were walking around after the "Ice Tornado" and water was literally coming up out between the slats of flooring. So we decided to get tile. I wasn't sure about this because I didn't want my living room to look like a bathroom. So we picked out large tiles in a rust/black/brown combo. After we ordered them I just wasn't sure if I really liked them and so I just had to wait until they came in so we could put them in. Well they are here and we have begun putting them in. I LOVE them. I think I love them more than the wood. Here are some progress pics.

OH and the microburst really freaked Claire out. She is still talking about it a lot and she calls it the Ice Tornado. I think that sounds a lot cooler than microburst. ;)

HEAT WAVE

The temps here have been over 100 for a month now. We are all HOT. SO naturally I am thinking of my fall wardrobe. I'm ready for jackets and long sleeves. Heck, I wish it was cool enough for capris. Anyway I have been dreaming. I almost can't sleep because I dream about sewing. Its an addiction for sure. I found some houndstooth a couple days ago at Hancock's and it was on sale...really good sale. So of course I needed it to make another trench coat from my McCall's 5525 pattern. Here is the first one: I got a coral satin for the lining. I made it SO much quicker than the last one. Maybe because of my shoulder injury but probably a lot had to do with knowledge. I had never made a coat before, this time I knew what I was doing. I had trouble with the lining last time because there is ONE direction that confused me but this time I worked with it until I got it. I am not going to post a picture right now because I don't have buttons on it yet. Everything else is finished but the buttons. In fact this is a huge issue right now because I can't decide on black buttons or coral buttons. UGH. I found some cute coral buttons the other day but idk if I want to do that. I mean I don't want it to clash with stuff I wear with it. (like maybe my red Chanel handbag...knockoff) or some plum colored pants. So maybe I should just stick with black BUT I don't want to be like every other houndstooth coat out there. See my dilemma? SO naturally I asked all my facebook friends...I literally got half for coral buttons and half for black buttons. I am just going to have to go look at buttons until I find the perfect ones. Here is the pattern. I made view B but with long sleeves.

I have about a million patterns pulled for my fall wardrobe and something amazing is happening...we are getting a JoAnn's on friday so the day after tomorrow I get to go look there IN MY TOWN. I am so glad to have another fabric store so close by. I have a few lined jackets, a winter coat, shirt dress, Jeans, sweaters and more all picked out and I am excited to get started and to be able to wear them in the COOL weather. ;)

Ok...so I took a break from the blog

but I'm back now to share all the happenings of Weddle life. There is so much to catch up on.
First of all, we put adoption on HOLD. Claire has such a spirited personality that I am just not ready yet. She goes to pre-k soon so that will probably make me more ready. We prayed and talked about it and came to the conclusion that we needed t wait and that MAYBE we will adopt 2 children at once since Claire will be older. We'll just have to see. I think we will put our app in a DHS first and then start with Dillon Int. We are still thinking Ethiopia or Korea. So we will have to start saving for that.
I have read a ton of books and honestly I can't remember the last one I posted about so I guess I will just guess...and then look back later. ha. I JUST read Get out of that Pit by Beth Moore. She is awesome and I liked the book but it wasn't written in the style of her other books. There were no verses to really look up to go along with her chapters so it was more of a self help book. I got some stuff out of it though. I also finished Jesus, the One and Only by Beth Moore. It was great. It will be one I read again. I want to read the one on David next. I am currently in the middle of Slave by John Macarthur. It is very dry so I can only read a little at a time but it is good. I mean basically it is just saying that we need to realize that what the Bible says a christian is is a SLAVE to Christ. (haha clearly, its in the title) but it goes deeper. I am also in the middle of Amanda Hocking's new book Virtue and honestly I am not that excited about it. I like her other books much better. I mean she is a great author if you need a book that is for entertainment purposes only. I enjoy her and I've read all of her stuff. I also read the Hunger Games trilogy and that was AWESOME! I loved it. I literally cannot wait for the movie next summer! Another I read was Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran. This is NOT my usual type of book but I liked it a lot. I will probably read more of her historical fiction. I've read a lot more but I can't think right now.

I went to China! It was amazing. I met some great people. One girls name is Krystal and I am still in contact with her. She is a sweet girl who dreams of becoming a singer. We were instant friends. Things were so different this time. I felt more comfortable teaching English. I liked the food better there but my best friend wasn't there and I didn't get to see her. it was tough on me because I wanted to very badly. My brother went with me and it was great for us. We really bonded and that was nice since I am 10 years older than him. It was just the 2 of us in a room and we became much closer. I will cherish it for the rest of my life.


The weight has been dropping and I've reached my first plateau! Yippee... I have gotten to...132 pounds. I can't seem to get under that but I am trying. I will weigh tomorrow to see if I can break it but I doubt it because today I was 133. UGH. My goal is set for Wednesday of next week to be at 129 but I don't know if I will make it. So far I have lost 23 pounds basically since January. Here is a before and after of my progress so far. BEFORE:
After:


I got my Zumba instructor certification BY MYSELF! (pat on the back) I am not teaching right now because I am a pansy and I'm not sure I want a job. :)

So I am super proud of myself because going alone is not something I would normally do at all but I did it because I wanted to show myself that I could. It was actually fun.

Ok guys and gals I'm going to post a different blog now to talk about sewing because this is getting obnoxiously long and random.

Losing

Losing weight that is! I started a new class at the gym called body sculpting and it is like the weight is melting off me. In a week I lost 2.5 pounds! I am super excited. I am making a new goal each time I reach one. I just reached my first one that I've been trying to reach for months! So I just set a new one. It will feel weird to see that number on the scale again. I really feel like I can do this. I signed up for loseit.com and it is just a basic budget of calories. I love it. It is part of the reason this is working. I was doing weight watchers but I felt like I was eating too much to lose weight and it wasn't really coming off very fast. Like less than half a pound a week. I will probably go back but I needed to change it up for a minute. I know weight watchers works but it is expensive and loseit.com is free. =) I already pay for the gym. There is only so much I am willing to pay to lose this weight. lol. BUT it is going well so no reason to complain!

Just finished mockingjay, the third in the series The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I recommend this trilogy to EVERYONE! It was so interesting. I loved it. I am currently reading two non-fiction books right now. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Fallen by Lauren Kate. I am enjoying JA and I've never read one of hers before so it is on my list. I bought Fallen because it was on sale at Barnes and Noble. It is just EH so far. I knew that my luck with awesome books would eventually run out. =D Hopefully it will get better. It just isn't a page turner like Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. I am only on chapter 6 so hopefully it will pick up soon.
I am also reading 2 non-fiction books. Mere Christianity and To Live is Christ. I am taking my time on these so that I can soak in as much info as possible. I am trying to read a chapter of each a night. I love the study on Paul. It is interesting to me. It is a good reminder of things that I've forgotten. She also has some very insightful things to say too. I love Beth Moore's style for sure. Mere Christianity was hard for me to get in to because it seems like CS Lewis likes to babble. I am now on chapter 7 and it is getting very interesting. I am enjoying it and I am glad that I got past those first few chapters. Although, the first few chapters have left their mark on my faith. I find myself thinking about it a lot in relation to how I've always looked at God. I like his logic. I just read a part last night about how people just want to fall for the first lie ever told...that we all want to be our own God. That seems to be what I've kind of had on my heart for awhile now. I mean it isn't just the religions who claim that you can become like God if you are good enough at their religion (first sign a religion is false btw) but that probably there is a little of that in all of us. It can take many forms. I just loved it. I like when I read something that verbalizes my thoughts that I can't verbalize myself.

We took it down

Last night we took the crib down. Mike took it down actually. I haven't been in the room since he took it down. We put the crib up after we had our first homestudy for Claire. They told us to have a room ready. We kept it up afterwards because we wanted to adopt again but it didnt work out. So then we kept it up because I was babysitting a baby on a regular basis. And now it is down.

The crib was put up in hopes that we would be chosen for a baby and now it is down and it feels like we have given up. =( It is really hurting right now. I just feel so defeated. Every way to adopt makes it so impossible to adopt. Its like i want to mother a child and there are children who want mothers but we can't get to each other because of stupid man made rules, laws, and FEES. We realized that we have to get ANOTHER set of fingerprints done AND another physical. (even though the last physical we did was useless because nothing ever came of it) It is just so frustrating. So we definitely have to wait until after I go to China in March. =( I am content with being a mother to one but oh how my soul aches for another child. There is literally NOTHING I can do. So I took down the crib and it just feels like failure.

BUT I do know that we will continue trying and we will put our stuff in to DHS sometime this year (it just keeps getting pushed back and pushed back) and we will be saving until we are basically in the grave for an overseas adoption. I know that anything is possible with God and I fully intend to let God lead our way through this. There are just times that I want to scream because I dont have the same choices as pretty much every other woman out there. I am put through Hell because my fallopian tubes dont work. Dont get me wrong, I want to be an adoptive mother. I LOVE being an adoptive mother, I would want it NO other way! BUT I hate the fire-y hoops my family and I have to jump through. My whole family has basically no say and someone else decides if we are worthy of one of the MILLIONS of orphans out there. GRR. I am having a bad uterus day. (I must be pms-ing OR ovulating...)

books

I am reading a few books right now. I am a somewhat slow reader but reading 3 at once is sure to slow me down even more. haha. So far this year i have read two books.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-This book was AMAZING. I cried all the way through it. I loved it so much. The whole series was awesome. The only book I had trouble getting through was The Goblet of Fire but the end of that book set the others up to be the best in the series. I loved the fight against good and evil. It was wonderful.
2. The Hunger games (book 1)- I loved this book as well. So far I am having a lot of luck with books this year! haha. It is right up my alley. It reminds me in a way of 1984 (one of my favorite books of all time). I love the whole idea of the book. It was gritty and that makes me wonder how they are going to make the movie considering it is a young adult book. (yes, apparently there is a movie coming out)

The three books I am reading now are:
1. Mere Christianity- This one I am FINALLY reading after having it in my collection for 10 years! lol. So far I am just kind of bored. I feel bad saying that. Granted I'm only 3 chapters in. =) I'm hoping "book 2" gets more interesting for me.

2. To Live is Christ-This one is by Beth Moore and it is an in depth look in to the life of Paul. So far I am loving it. There have been some profound statements in the book that I like. It is great to see Paul in action from a child on. To soak in what his conversion meant. I really am enjoying this book. I love the way Beth Moore knows her stuff and she has a really amazing way with words to tug at your heart as you read.

3. Catching Fire (hunger games book 2)- So far this book has been very intense with everything that just went down in the first book. I am just so captivated by this book. I literally cannot put it down. It looks like there may be some violence coming soon. I dont want to say too much because I want you to read it. It just reminds me of a few things. One is that I am fed like a person in the Capitol and I sometimes forget about the people who are hungry. Two is that there are places in the world that are like this to a degree (maybe not as harsh) and I shouldn't take my freedom for granted. I could definitely see how the horrid way the Capitol treats the people of the districts could happen if America fell. The carnal displays they create in the districts just to entertain themselves (the wealthy and corrupt government officials)and the fear they have of losing their power. (can you see that already in gov't officials?) There is a love story but it doesnt matter to me as it did in Twilight or some other superficial novel. This story is about the story not about who ends up with who. I LOVE it.

weight watchers

I've been doing weight watchers for less than a week and I am going crazy! I have no scale and I just want to weigh. The only time I did weigh was at my parents house and I was 2 pounds heavier. I am addicted to that scale like it is crack. I'm going though my own sort of withdrawls. It's sick.

So anyway I need to lose 20 pounds or so. I am not sure how this points plus thing is going to work because I feel like I am eating all day long and the scale wasn't kind to me the other day. I mean I eat my points but in between I eat a ton of fruits and veggies and they are all 0pts. I try to have all 5 servings at least then if I want any kind of snack I grab fruit so that it does not impact my points. So I think I must be doing something wrong. But whats the point of making fruit and veggies zero if you can't have all 5 recommended servings (minimum...)? EEK. I am thinking too much of it. I'll let you know if I keep up the gain or if I lose on Wednesday.

HOW?

How do you forgive the people that consistently hurt you? Or make you feel small and worthless. Like your job doesn't matter and your thoughts don't matter. How do you get past it? Its all fine and dandy to read about forgiveness and how Christ forgave us and how we should forgive others 70x7...but the question is HOW? Did Jesus feel this BITTERNESS of people rejecting him? Did he WANT to forgive them? Where do you find that? How do you even get to the point that you want to let it go? How do you get there when you know that things will never change and you will always be an outsider? What about my feelings? Why do I have to be the one who has to turn the other cheek? WHY AM I THIS WAY? Sometimes I feel so rejected and alone. I guess it is probably how Jesus felt. Even his 12 didn't understand what His purpose was. Why can't I take solace in that? I feel so alone sometimes. I'm sitting there with 20 different people and I am just alone. I don't know what to say. I can't get past the hurt I feel. I need to get past this but I dont even know where to start.