Author: southernbellestyle

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My Wheelbarrow

Or maybe I should say my dump truck… Because I feel like I own one.

Lately things have been busy. Busy. Busy. I am having a hard time keeping up with everything, and I have been staring at the computer screen for so long that my eye permanently twitches now.

Not good.

On to my wheelbarrow. Everyone has ‘stuff’ that they carry around with them, things that have to get done, etc. These things can be tangible, but more often than not it’s the intangible things that weigh the most.

I am sure you remember my list from a few posts ago. Well I am glad to say that some things have been marked off. But, I honestly think I have added more than I have removed by the time you sort it all out.

So here is an update on what I am carrying around in my wheelbarrow:

2 graduate classes
1 final exam
2 book reviews
6 U.S. History High School classes
1 job contract
2 transcript requests
1 set of apartment keys to return
tons of school supplies to buy
1 classroom to move into
2 paper boxes of classroom books
bank accounts to open
in service trainings
job orientation
many…many…more.

One thing you may notice from above- I GOT THE TEACHING JOB!! Signed the contract two days ago, and will be an 11th grade U.S. History teacher at a local high school. One of the best things so far, I have seen the room and it is completely new, and it even has windows! (You will only understand the window thing if you have been a teacher. There is no rule that every room has a window. So it becomes quite the commodity!)

The small downside to the new job- it added a TON of things to my wheelbarrow. Which was already hard to push around. But, if I can get through August 2nd, a good chunk of stuff will be done, and I hope to be carrying a lighter load!

So, if you hear from me before August 2nd, things are going well. If not- see you after I empty my wheelbarrow.

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Coming Clean

So a while ago, actually, close to a year ago, someone came to me asking about a double wedding ring quilt. It would be for their bride, as a wedding gift. I was thrilled to do it, and immediately started collecting fabric.

The catch to this story, and the part I am now ‘coming clean’ about, is that the double wedding ring quilt was for my best friend, who a few months later came asking me to create a quilt for her fiance.

Yes, you guessed it. The Periodic Table Quilt I recently posted about, is actually part of a set… Unintentionally, of course. So, for MONTHS, I juggled two quilts, for one couple. And for people I am really close to. The phone calls and messages were crazy. And I knew at some point I was going to slip up.

Well, turns out I am really good at keeping secrets. Neither party knew about their quilt, until it was gifted to them. Of course there were plenty of funny conversations between my mom and I (she was one of the few who knew the whole story) as I tried to juggle these two projects.

Now that you know the general story- I imagine you want to know more about the Double Wedding Ring Quilt.

The groom’s favorite color is blue, and the bride’s favorite color is orange. So this quilt would be a Scrap Double Wedding Ring Quilt, using those two colors, with a base color of white. Its dimensions are aprox. 79″ x 89″, perfect for a full size bed.

However, it wasn’t at the wave of a magic wand from the fairy godmother that this quilt became reality. No it started as a mass of tiny little pieces, divided up into Ziploc bags.

And all these pieces left behind quite a mess in my scrap basket…

But eventually all the little pieces became this-

Then it was this-

And finally, this-

And for something fun, I even listed some of the stats for the quilt-

And the final wrap up-

So there it is, the final product. The couple loves it, and the Periodic Table Quilt, and they have a wonderful story to tell as well.

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Someone You Should Know About

You all know my love of music… well I have someone I have to recommend, and you can’t find her stuff on iTunes yet, but it will only be a matter of time. Lindsey Lee, is from my hometown and has gone to Tennessee to pursue her music career. She has a beautiful voice, writes her own stuff, and we will hopefully be hearing it all soon on the radio… Well, hearing it more. Recently she was featured on a radio show from home (you can find it on her website.)

So go on over to her music homepage, and give it a listen, I promise you won’t regret it!

Lindsey Lee Music

Lindsey Lee Website

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Where I Have Been

Considering my last post was at the end of May, I think I have some explaining to do… Every time I get online I feel a bit like Lucy being stared down by Ricky Ricardo. I know I haven’t updated in a while, and I wish I could say there was a great excuse for this. I have plenty to update on, and I hope to actually be able to do this now that things have settled a bit.

Wait.

Who am I kidding? Things haven’t settled at all. So, Lets just say instead, that I hope at this point I will have the drive to post more.

Yeah… that’s better.

Anyway, to fill you in on what has been happening since May:

Graduated
Kim & Andrew’s wedding
Malorie & Jacob’s Wedding
4 graduate school summer classes
1 double wedding ring quilt
a few extra orders
one huge portfolio for class
one exhibition for class
packing to move

Obviously things have been busy around here. So my goal over the next few days and weeks is to catch all of you up on the events going on. But be patient I don’t know how successful I will be at this!

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Music Monday:: V.V. Brown

I honestly don’t remember how I stumbled upon this artist, all I know is that I am glad I did. V.V. Brown has been immensely popular in England for some time now, but only recently has her music made it over the pond to the U.S.

From what I can tell, she only has one album released (at least in the U.S.) aside from a few EPs.

Traveling Like the Light has several really great songs, the most notable in my opinion is Back in Time. I love the beat.

1 Quick Fix
2 Game Over
3 Shark in the Water
4 Leave!
5 Bottles
6 Crying Blood
7 Back in Time
8 I Love You
9 L.O.V.E.
10 Everybody
11 Crazy Amazing
12 Traveling Like the Light

I also highly recommend Shark in the Water, L.O.V.E, and Leave!

Keep an eye out for V.V. Brown, I am sure there will be more good work coming from her soon!

Artist Website::

http://vvbrown.com/

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Disappointment

It seems to be the driving force in my life this week. I typically am a person that has high expectations for myself as well as others. I should mention here, that not all of them are reasonable. I try to recognize this as much as possible, and maintain control over my expectations.

Sometimes I slip.

Sometimes the expectation is reasonable, but it still ends in disappointment.

These are the moments I hate the most. And unfortunately, these are the moments that have filled my week.

It is so frustrating when expectations are not met. Especially when you have lowered the expectations in the first place! You think that surely it is a reasonable expectation, yet you find out that apparently it wasn’t!

It makes you wonder if your standards are still too high, or if other’s standards just aren’t high enough. Where exactly is the middle ground, and at what point do you draw the line and say something simply is not acceptable?

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Music Monday:: MuteMath

Over the past year I have slowly come to appreciate and love MuteMath. It was always one of those bands that was recommended to me but I could never manage to become interested in. I wish I could say there was a particular song that instigated this change of mind, but there isn’t.

Their first album, MuteMath has one of my all time favorites:: Typical

1 Collapse
2 Typical
3 After We Have Left Our Homes
4 Chaos
5 Noticed
6 Plan B
7 Stare At The Sun
8 Obsolete
9 Break The Same
10 You Are Mine
11 Control
12 Picture
13 Stall Out
14 Reset

Their music has a very original sound, and their videos have a very original look::

Their second full album was just recently released, Armistice.

1 The Nerve
2 Backfire
3 Clipping
4 Spotlight
5 No Response
6 Pins and Needles
7 Goodbye
8 Odds
9 Electrify
10 Armistice
11 Lost Year
12 Burden
13 Architecture

My favorite tracks from this album are Electrify, Spotlight, and Odds.

Many may recognize MuteMath from their song Spotlight which is in the very popular movie Twilight.

A little known fact about MuteMath, and something that sets them apart from other bands is their use of a Fender Rhodes Mark I piano. Lends a different sound to the music.

Their Website::

http://mutemath.com/

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Still Here.

I know it has been quiet around here lately, however, it is because lots of things are going on over here!

I have been home for about a week and a half, relaxing a bit before going back to school to start my graduate work. And I should mention that relaxing is a relative term. Since there are no classes, no homework, and no work things have been relatively calmer and I have found myself with the time to do things I enjoy. Like reading a book for the fun of it and not for class, or working on a sewing project that doesn’t have to immediately go into the mail.

While I am enjoying this more relaxed time, I do have a list of things I need to get done. I have my best friend’s wedding coming up so of course there is the lingerie shower, and the luncheon, along with the bachelorette party, and the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, all coming up before the wedding. And believe me, I can’t wait!

I also have a project I am working on, and hopefully will be able to share it with you in the coming weeks. All I can say right now about it is that I am excited to see the outcome!

In other news, my diploma came in the mail yesterday!! Up until then graduation has seemed surreal. After all, I go back to school in a few weeks so it doesn’t seem like I have accomplished anything. But that sheet of paper proves otherwise! It is currently hanging on the wall in a temporary frame until I can purchase the official one.

On Friday we had a great deal of fun over here. For my mom’s Mother’s Day gift we got tickets for the Al Green concert at the Hard Rock Live. The show was Friday night and my mom, brother, his girlfriend, and myself spent the night enjoying some good music, good food, and good company. (Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the night. They said that cameras would not be allowed in, however, when I got there it became quite clear I could have walked in with my DSLR thrown over my shoulder and they wouldn’t have said a thing. Frustrating to say the least.)

To cap off my weekend I spent yesterday at a birthday party for a very special little girl. A good friend of mine’s little girl turns 4 this month and we celebrated big yesterday with games a pizza. She loves to read so, with me being an avid reader myself I fueled the fire by giving her books! I like to pass my addictions on to others, especially one’s such as reading. And the day ended perfectly with one of those sweet hugs that only a child can give.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I will manage to update more frequently. As I mentioned above, there will be plenty to talk about!

Hoping everyone has a sunny Sunday,

The Southern Belle