What's Brewing?

Lately I've traded my warm coffee for an iced version.  It's so good for the warm days, but gosh if this weather keeps changing I'll never get into a routine :)  Although I crave a good routine, I'm not complaining.  The up and down in temperatures is like my feeling about trading my scarves for flip flops.  Some days I just can't decide which I prefer most!  If you spot a gal waltzing around in confusing seasonal wear, it's me.
   It's not only coffee that's brewing these days!  March has been an eventful month!  Here it is in a nutshell:  Pops's birthday, Granny's birthday, a new job for a family member, surgery for sweet Rilie, Jeff in Dallas, Jeff changing clinical instructors, and Millie and Evan got engaged!  Phew,  I'm worn out just thinking about it all!
   That's right, we are in wedding planning mode.  I'm the official photographer, planner, Matron of Honor.  It's been fun trying to imagine what a celebration would look like that mirrors Millie and Evan's personalities and wants.  We've been productive so far!
Guess where I'm going this week...........DALLAS!  I'm flying to visit Jeff and tour TX!  I'll speak for both of us when I say, we are ready to be with each other!  Life with Jeff Williams is so much better!
   We've enjoyed sending snail mail as part of our communication.  fyi: it has taken up to 5 days for a letter to arrive!  Jeff was having a rough experience one day, so I wrote to him about Romans 8:28 telling him that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord...  Whether things smooth over now or later, we still get to spend an eternity with Christ.  That sir, is GOOD.
In the next day or so I received a letter quoting the same scripture :)  We had both been encouraged by the verse and didn't know each others' thoughts until the letters were delivered.

Are you Reedy?

Sunnie misses him!!

Happy almost SPRING!!!

How about an update??  Jeff made his way to Texas by Wednesday(3/6) night.  He's located just a bike ride away from a lake and about 5 miles from his clinic.  His two housemates have turned out to be delightfully AWESOME!  The other night when Jeff and I facetimed, he and one of the housemates played "You Are My Sunshine" on their guitars and sang to me.  garsh!  Jeff always amazes me.  The amount of people he's met and made friends within the last week would equal the amount of friends I could make in 4 years!
Jeff has begun his 8 weeks in his clinic.  I have begun my countdown for his return.
What have I been up to these days?  I traded being a professional photographer for being a babysitter for a few days :)  I love that I am available to help out these families.  I've also done a few sessions and album design work.

The scenery on a recent run :)

Lately I've written about running.  Here's the crew that ran the Reedy River Run on March 2.  It's a 5k, which means 3.1 miles.  We all had a blast running in Downtown Greenville.  A few of us even got a PR, personal record.  James finished 18 overall with a time of 19 minutes and 36 seconds!  Go brother!!  I ran the 3.1 miles in 27 minutes and 55 seconds, a new PR :)

Headed to the Finish Line!!!

Jeff heads to Texas!

The Mr. has left the building!  Earlier today, Jeff took off on his 3ish day road trip to Dallas, TX.  Jeff will be doing his FINAL 8 week clinical in the downtown area.
We've approached this time period with excitement and eagerness...and tears.  I even shed a few ;)
Anyways, lets focus on the fun stuff.  On his way there, Jeff gets to stop in Nashville, Little Rock and some other cool spots.  Online banking shows he stopped at McDonalds in Knoxville, livin large!
I've sent him with my trusty Canon Rebel XT to capture some memories and insight for us. He may even blog once or twice during this 8 weeks. Fingers crossed!
I get to visit him at the end of March, just 4 short weeks away. Then my wedding season starts full blown in Greenville.
Our parting challenge was...
"That we'd be more in love at the end if these 9 weeks than we were at the beginning."
That's a whole lot of love y'all!
I know Jeff will glorify God with his time in the Lone Star State. I'm so excited to hear about his adventures. If you know Jeff personally YOU KNOW there will plenty of crazy stories!

I tell my clients all the time, sit up straighter...I'm so hunched over!

As a send off, the Williams traveled to Greer to visit and have dinner this past weekend!  We had a great time together :)

DIY Dog Pillow

Lately, I've been craving another DIY project.  I decided to make Sunnie a large dog pillow.  I needed a pillow that I could machine wash the case and the pillows inside when Sunnie gets them dirty.  The least expensive dog pillows I've been able to find start at $18.  My goal was to make one cuter and cheaper than that price.  I came out a total of $10.
Victory.

Here's my list of materials:

2 yards of 1 or 2 fabrics

At least 12 inches of velcro

Thread

**Sewing Machine

2 old pillows

One super sweet dog

Mom had these pillows stashed in the attic = money saver!  If you buy pillows, walmart has them for $2.50 each.  I already had white thread.  I sewed the pillows together, with a simple stitch, in the middle so they would not separate.  Prep your fabric by ironing to get all wrinkles and creases out.

After measuring the pillows' combined length and width, I added two inches to the measurements to make up for the thickness of the pillows and room for my seam.  ((My combined pillow measurements were 35x25))  After cutting, face the colorful sides of the fabric together and pin the edges so you can begin to sew.  After winding your bobbin and thread, sew two long sides and one short side.  Leave the other short side for the velcro step.
TIP:  If you are not confident with your sewing skills, pick a patterned fabric that doesn't show mistake.  My floral pattern doesn't show crookedness at all.  Stripes are something to avoid.

With the fabric still inside out, take your 4, 3 inch strips of velcro.  I ironed the velcro and the edges of the fabric.  Pick two spots of one side of your fabric and pin the velcro.  Match up the other two strips on the opposite side of fabric.  SEW each side.  DO NOT sew the sides together.  The velcro keeps that edge closed. 

Turn your pillow case, poke out the corners, slide your pillows in!  Sunnie was so excited while I was doing this, she was laying on the case and pillows as I was putting them together.

**I loved my fabric combination so much that I brought the chevron around on the floral side.  This wasn't much extra work.  I used scrap fabric of the chevron and sewed it to the floral.  As long as the final length is the same as the other side, you are good.

She's in lurve!