Employed!

Just dropping in to share the wonderful news - we're employed! After, what has it been, 4 months of unemployment, D has a new job. We also took the van into the shop and found that it does, as we suspected, need a new motor. It's $900, so we are going for it. We can't replace the van for $900 and going into debt when you have a job is better than going into debt when you don't.

Not my card, but available here

We are so humbled and thankful for the well wishes and prayers from all of you. There are still so many people out there looking for work, keep them in your hearts.

He starts on Monday, so today we are going on a celebratory bike ride which has been coined the "Ride Until April Drops" ride. It's the last of the week day rides with my hubby - bitter sweet - more sweet than bitter.

Brownies for Breakfast

and why not? I'm home alone for the first time in weeks, D has an interview (insert prayers here), I have a ton of work to do and we just finished the Wonder Woman ride this weekend. That's call for celebration - and brownies. The ride was awesome and we rode the 30 miles in 2.5 hours, which is by far my best time yet. Konda was very sweet and hung back with me, and my husband and son rode along for support. I finished in the middle of the pack, which exceeded my goal of not finishing last.

Truth be told, the brownies aren't that great - the recipe is wonderful and one that I've always loved, it's just that after trying to eat better for the past few months, they are way too sweet. Yes, that's me saying brownies are too sweet. I've been saying a lot of things that are out of character lately..."No thank you" to a piece of chocolate cake. "Let's not go that way, or we'll miss the killer hills".

This is my Aunt Joann and my Uncle Ray. The look on their faces is the same look on my face after seeing the pictures of me at the ride in spandex. I thought I would spare you all and share their picture instead - you're welcome.

Changing Seasons and a Shameless Plug

Do you feel the change happening? The nights here have been getting cooler and today is our first cloudy, cool day in awhile. I love it when the seasons change - the season between seasons.

Speaking of seasons...is it time to start making Christmas gifts yet? It would be a great time to start on your Fairy Tale Quiet Book for all of the little ones in your life :)

PDF versions available at my etsy shop -  Happy Sewing :)

Quick Get Away

We were in desperate need of a get away. So we headed up the canyon for a weekend camping trip with some friends. Diego found a great site with a stream running along it and best of all - it was free. We did have to bring in our own water and use Steve and Melody's 5 gallon bucket with a toilet lid for immediate bathroom needs, but there was a camp site with flush toilets just a half mile up the road for the serious bathroom trips:)

We packed enough for 3 weeks worth of camping, and didn't use half of it. (The baby gear isn't ours, but we did get to play with the baby and he sure was a cutie). The whole family had a great time despite the preliminary complaints from the oldest teenager - and the frazzled mom.

Melody made a great dutch oven apple cobbler.

Diego made this...

And I did a whole lot of this

Just what I needed.