. . . row row row twelve . . .

. . . originally posted 

at bee in my bonnet 

on 20 february 2013,

i finally got around 

to making these darling baskets . . .

. . . they were quick and easy . . .

. . . and then --- 

taping them all in a row 

to my front porch railing 

just seemed like 

the right thing to do . . .

{total number of pieces in row 12: 110}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-12: 1427}

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . the east entrance 

of the mesa arizona temple 

is much less used 

than the west . . .

. . . the last of the spring flowers . . .

. . . the olive tree . . .

. . . and that sky . . .

. . . a lovely evening . . .

. . . at a lovely place . . .

. . . the new neutral . . .

. . . my bedroom window seat's cushion

 is about eighteen years old . . .

. . . it's always been covered in

green and white stripes . . .

. . . and is in desperate need 

of an update . . .

. . . i bought this 

woven upholstery fabric 

about four and a half years ago . . .

(when amanda and i were shopping for elliott's crib bedding fabric)

. . . and i've been trying ever since 

to convince myself that

a) i can do this myself, and

b) it'll look okay . . .

. . . so i bit the bullet . . .

. . . and i bought a zipper . . .

. . . a reallllllllllllllllllllly long zipper . . .

. . . fourteen and a half feet long, 

to be exact . . .

. . . i installed it fairly well . . . 

(it goes along the back side, so . . . whatever, right?)

. . . i made a lot of cording . . .

. . . no, really . . .

. . . i made a LOT of cording . . .

. . . turns out i made 

waaaaaaaaaaay too much cording . . .

. . . and i sewed it along 

all the edges 

of the cushion top pieces . . .

. . . then bill and i literally 

had to wrestle 

the foam pieces inside . . .

. . . it was maybe pretty comical . . .

. . . and HARD work . . .

. . . but i felt like it was 

quite an accomplishment . . . 

. . . and it fit! . . .

. . . and then i was feeling cocky . . .

. . . so i made a couple 

of throw pillows

 to go on the couch 

that used to be 

in our living room . . .

. . . to hopefully tie it in . . .

. . . because cheetah 

goes with everything . . .

. . . right? . . .

. . . it's the new neutral . . .

. . . 1979 ~ 2013 (so far) . . .

. . . here's what i was doing 

thirty-four years ago today . . .

. . . i posted this photo on instagram

 and got a little ribbing 

about my bouquet . . .

(when what i really deserved ribbing about was this super dramatic pose!)

. . . my bridal bouquet was created 

by a family friend/ward member . . .

 . . . lyman haws was 

the owner of haws flower shop . . .

. . . i told him i wanted daffodils . . .

. . . he said, "are you sure?" . . . 

. . . i was sure . . .

. . . then i think my dad told him 

to be sure it made a statement . . .

. . . i think it did! . . .

. . . i've never seen anything like it . . .

. . . after posting that photo, 

i received an email from a friend . . .

. . . donna told me that 

lyman haws is her stepdad . . . 

. . . i had no idea . . .

. . . she said, "i talked to him today and asked him if he remembered an unusual request for a wedding. he immediately said that he had done a wedding for 'ole jack davis' daughter' and she had a trailing bouquet of daffodils. he even remembers the reception. not bad for a 93-year-old man!! . . . he said that he was good friends with your dad and he was very particular about what he wanted . . . his mind is as sharp as it was 30 years ago!" . . . 

. . . then she shared that 

he now has a quilting machine 

and that keeps him busy! . . . 

. . . here he is on the day 

he was teaching donna 

how to use it 

on her lori holt row along quilt . . .

. . . my mom loved 

hearing this story . . .

. . . anyway . . .

. . . back to the fact that 

today bill and i have been married 

for thirty-four years . . .

. . . that's a long time . . .

. . . but not nearly long enough . . .

. . . this is for better or worse . . .

. . . for richer or poorer . . .

. . . in sickness (him) 

or in health (me) . . .

. . . through thick (me) 

or thin (him) . . .

. . . this is forever . . .

. . . yay! . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . thirty-four years ago today . . .

. . . the day before 

we were married . . .

. . . i entered these doors 

for the first time . . .

. . . the temple has been 

a blessing in my life 

ever since . . .

. . . so grateful for the opportunity 

to serve here every week . . .

. . . bloops! i did it again . . .

. . . one day i turned 

yards of cotton gauze . . .

. . . into lots of bloops! . . .

. . . generously sized 

swaddling blankets . . .

. . . with nary a kitty cat 

nor a dinosaur in sight . . .

#yayforprettybabystuff!

. . . variety is the spice of life . . .

. . . i made a deal 

with our relief society president . . .

. . . i'll make special blessing day oops!

 for all the babies born in our ward . . .

. . . and she'll never ask me 

to teach sunday lessons . . .

. . . score! . . .

. . . pink and grey ~ 

a classic combination . . . 

. . . these flew out the door 

as soon as i got them made . ..

. . . and for shlepping 

around disneyland 

with an infant . . .

. . . you'd be the envy 

of everyone in line 

at mr. toad's wild ride . . .

. . . see? there's an oops! 

for every circumstance . . .

. . . ric rac paddy whack . . .

. . . in the last couple of years . . . 

. . . ric rac has really come of age . . .

. . . i know it's been around forever . . .

. . . but now there are 

more sizes and colors than ever . . .

. . . i love to hoard collect it . . .

. . . and then the fun starts 

when i try to make 

ric rac/ribbon combos . . .

(we may have had an instagram discussion about this color's name)

. . . i have a fun "job" . . .

. . . ruffles have ridges . . .

. . . i've always loved it . . .

. . . there's just 

something about eyelet . . .

. . . the holes . . .

. . . the daisies . . .

. . . the scallops . . .

. . . so glad i finally had the bright idea

 to use it on oops! . . .

. . . it looks especially fresh and springy

combined with these trendy colors . . . 

. . . baby gifters 

can't seem to get enough 

of mint, coral, teal and melon . . .

. . . take me out to the ballgame . . .

. . . every time i go to the ribbon store, 

the pink polka dot section 

is like a magnet . . .

. . . i mean, really . . . 

. . . but i was on a mission . . .

. . . focus focus focus . . .

. . . ahhhhh . . . 

. . . there it is . . .

. . . for a special little sports fan . . .

. . . or probably, more specifically . . .

. . . for the offspring 

of a special sports fan . . .

. . . i'm always up 

for the challenge 

of a special oops! order 

or two . . .

. . . call me maybe . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . since i'm there 

every wednesday . . .

. . . and because 

it's such a beautiful place . . .

. . . i decided to snap a quick photo

 each week . . .

. . . the flowers are glorious . . .

. . . and the smell is intoxicating . . .

. . . at the mesa arizona temple . . .

. . . row row row eleven . . .

. . . since i was on a roll . . .

. . . maybe i should say 

i was on a "row"ll . . .

. . . nevermind . . .

. . . i shouldn't say that at all . . .

. . . anyway . . . 

. . . the next row looked like 

it'd be quick and easy . . .

. . . little spools of thread . . .

. . . fourteen of them . . .

. . . so i pulled some fabrics . . .

. . . and lined 'em up . . .

. . . they went together super fast . . .

. . . and i just couldn't resist . . .

. . . putting them in roygbiv order . . .
. . . i have a little ocd obsession 
with that . . .
{technically rpygb order ~ no o; p instead; no i or v either}

. . . another gratuitous yard shot . . .
. . . ivy today . . .
. . . springtime in arizona 
is the best . . .

{total number of pieces in row 11: 85}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-11: 1317}

. . . row row row ten . . .

. . . after i made it 

to the bottom of my ironing pile 

during general conference, 

i rewarded myself with 

a little "get to" sewing . . .

. . . maybe i should make myself 

a chore chart 

with stickers and prizes . . .

. . . time to work on

row ten: houses . . .

. . . earlier in the week, 

i had selected these fabrics 

for houses and roofs 

and residents . . .

. . . got 'em all cut out . . .

. . . and construction began . . .

. . . here're the first two houses 

on the block . . .

. . . and the whole subdivision . . .

. . . with crazy toddlers 

in the grey and aqua house . . .

. . . identical twins 

in the yellow and red house . . .

. . . visually challenged hat wearers 

in the red and pink house . . .

. . . a cute little top-knotted redhead 

and her sister 

in the pink and green house . . .

. . . and a ballet studio 

in the yellow and grey house . . .

. . . these are, of course, tract homes . . .

. . . everyone has the same floor plan,

 door and chimneys . . .

. . . how about 

a gratuitous geranium shot 

of the whole row? . . .

{note to self: blue painters tape 

definitely shows through white background fabric}

. . . this row was pretty quick 

to put together . . .

. . . ten rows down . . .

. . . three to go . . .

. . . plus a few other things 

that make this quilt 

over the top amazing . . .

{total number of pieces in row 10: 110}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-10: 1232}

. . . conference weekend . . .

. . . this was one of 

my favorite two weekends 

of the year . . .

. . . i love listening 

to the inspired words 

of our church leaders . . .

. . . and . . .

. . . i love to get 

to the bottom 

of my ironing pile . . .

. . . it's my general conference

tradition . . .

. . . and it keeps me awake! . . .

. . . especially if i arm myself 

with diet coke 

and leftover cadbury eggs . . .

. . . i'm always on the lookout 

for my hometown girl, 

tricia hyde swanson . . .

. . . we grew up in the same ward . . .

. . . she has a spectacular 

first soprano voice 

and has been in the choir 

for a long, long time . . .

{top row, center, dark hair ~ she and her voice are beautiful}

. . . tv screen photos 

in fluorescent lighting 

are awful . . .

. . . but let's take a vote . . .

. . . and i'm sure 

you'll all agree with me . . .

. . . periwinkle dresses 

are waaaaaaaay better 

than mauve . . .

. . . and it's good to see 

everyone in their assigned seats 

two days in a row . . .

. . . president uchtdorf 

makes all the foreign names 

of general authorities 

sound fantastic 

with his awesome german accent . . .

. . . and funny internet people 

make me laugh with 

{maybe slightly inappropriate ~ yet true} 

sayings like this . . .

. . . after the first hour 

of the morning session, 

and several white shirts . . .

. . . the congregation and choir 

stood to sing a rest hymn . . .

. . . "let us all press on" . . .

. . . and maybe it made me laugh . . .

. . . after the first two-hour session . . .

. . . halfway through 

the afternoon session . . .

. . . and i was finished 

after four hours . . . 

. . . i never claimed to be 

a super fast ironer . . .

. . . but i AM good! . . .

. . . my favorite 

{are we allowed to have a favorite?}

 speaker . . .

. . . if i had to choose one . . .

. . . is nearly always

elder jeffrey r. holland . . .

. . . it seems like every talk he gives 

is a masterpiece . . .

. . . another true funny . . . 

. . . after the final session ended . . .

. . . it was time 

to get my skewers on . . .

. . . and chris was a great sport 

and worked hard 

at grilling them up . . .

{sorry about all the smoke in your eyes, chris!}

. . . while tyler had his hands full

 keeping colby entertained . . .

. . . and yes, we did 

have an easter egg hunt . . .

. . . a week after easter . . . 

. . . bill filled them with candy . . .

. . . then addi and halleigh 

hid all the eggs . . .

. . . elliott didn't mind a bit 

that we were a little tardy . . .

. . . and tagg was happy 

to show me his treasures . . .

. . . while brent napped on the lawn . . .

. . . feeling the spirit, 

being productive, 

good food, 

and family time . . .

. . . that about sums up 

one of my favorite two weekends 

of the year . . .

. . . i'm already looking forward 

to october . . .