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.