Still assembling the spools … I love a neatly pressed quilt. I’m not a perfectionist but I do pin and press as I’m piecing my quilts to get the best possible results.

I’m using 2.5 inch strips from Connecting Threads for this quilt and the good thing is the edges aren’t pinked so it’s easier to accurately sew them, the bad thing is the edges aren’t pinked so there’s some raveling.

I’ve made some good progress so I’m still hoping to finish up by the end of the week and get a small top quilted too.

Adam’s Birthday was Monday – I can’t belive my baby is 34! I got a card mailed and spoke with him to wish him happy birthday on Monday but I didn’t get his birthday collage made … I kept looking at photos of him but no particular theme came to mind and then tonight I realized how many photos he’s wearing one of his Hard Rock t-shirts in! I’ll let his birthday collage be a reminder that this is the year I’m supposed to make his t-shirt quilt!

We love our Subaru Outback and we share just one car between us so when Keith mentioned there were a few features he’d like on the next one and Adam started having some car trouble, we decided we’d go ahead and get a new one for us and pass the current one down to Adam!

I’ve only driven it home from the dealer but I think I’m going to love it even more than I loved the old one and that one was my favorite car ever!! Now I want to take a road trip! It looks a little bluish in this photo but it’s gray with a light gray interior.

I can’t wait to learn about all the new features…. Car Play was one that I was most excited about and it worked perfectly . As soon as I plugged my phone into the USB port, I had access to the GPS from my phone on the car’s video screen and even Siri at a touch of a button on the steering wheel to control my music and call Keith hands free! We had a connection to our phones with the old car too but it’s much more integrated with Car Play.

This is too cute not to share … she means grandparents not parents but she got most of it right!

It’s always a special day for me and one I spend thinking of my Dad. This year, I decided to visually show the little ones how they connect to their Irish heritage.

Rae …

and Caleb …

… are the only two old enough to understand but I did photos for all 4 of the kids.

My grandparents, Patrick McLaughlin and Mary Anne Wallace immigrated from Ireland in 1922. They settled in Philadelphia and met at some point, married, and my Dad was their second child of eight and their oldest son. I really need to ask around and find out if anyone knows how they met. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that story.

I’ve always been proud to be the granddaughter of immigrants and a part of what makes this country special.

It was a bit drizzly but we still got out on the bikes. I am SOOO enjoying being outside more and enjoying the area we live. A twelve and a half mile ride today and I always love seeing dolphins in our bay!

Sparkman Wharf is a new area downtown and while I wasn’t impressed on my first visit weeks ago, we enjoyed our ride there today … there was a large cruise ship docked … I didn’t realize that they docked right next to this wharf.

It wasn’t as crowded today, probably due to the weather so we were able to sit a while before we got back on the bikes.

I’ll be honest and say upfront that I don’t consider myself an artist … maybe one who crafts or a creative person?! We went to dinner the other night and struck up a conversation with a guy at the bar … Keith asked what he did at one point and he told us he was an artist and Keith said he’d never met an artist before. On the walk home, I asked him didn’t he consider me an artist?! I know it’s not the same thing and I don’t call myself an artist but I’m glad I have time to pursue creative things! I really wasn’t giving him a hard time either … I know he appreciates what I spend my time doing.

Funny thing is that as we continued to talk at the bar, we discovered that we are both patients at Moffitt – fellow creative spirits and cancer patients.