We're Engaged!!!

Yesterday John asked me to marry him! I was very surprised because I didn't think he would propose until maybe the spring at the earliest. But, he was sneaky and able to surprise me earlier than I expected. So, if you're interested, here's the story:

He came home Friday evening with a grocery bag which was only odd because we usually do most of our grocery shopping together each weekend. I asked what it was and he openly told me that it was for breakfast on Saturday morning. Sweet. Then he kinda rushed outside to the shed.. Again I asked what was up (man, I sound like I'm pretty nosey!) and he just said that he was putting back some tools a friend had borrowed. Okay. We had a nice night, met friends for dinner, and snuggled on the couch watching a movie (about a wedding nonetheless and he didn't let on at all.. although it was a very weird movie and in the end there was no wedding...).

Next morning he proceeded to cook breakfast in bed with all the fixins'. Such a treat! He was a bit quiet through breakfast but I figured we were both still just waking up and too busy keeping our mouths full of eggs and turkey bacon and biscuits.

He took the trays away and then came back to the bedroom.. I remember noticing that he kinda shifted his hands behind his back briefly but I didn't really think anything of it.. I kissed him, thanked him for breakfast, and told him I love him.. Then he responded with, "I love you too.. for the rest of my life" and then started to kneel down!!! My jaw dropped. He pulled out this beautiful wooden jewelry box, opened it to reveal a beautiful ring, and asked me to marry him!!

I was soo surprised I just started basically hyperventilating (in the best kind of way) and looked at the ring and looked at him and looked at the ring and looked at him... said "oh my god" quite a few times (oh, and I was crying tears of joy as well). Finally I pulled myself together enough to realize I hadn't said "yes" yet and promptly told him "YES" and I think I may have also said "of course!". And there you have it, we were engaged!!!!

After much hugging and both of us "wellin' up" with tears of joy he asked if I would like champagne to celebrate. Which is apparantly why he had snuck out to the shed - he had a perfect-sized bottle of delicious champagne chilling in a cooler outside. Perfect! Then of course while we were enjoying our champagne I asked him as many questions as possible about how he managed to surprise me so well. He'd had the ring for a while until he could plan the perfect time and situation. AND he had asked my dad for permission on Thursday. Awww!!

The beautiful box the ring came in which is from "Brilliant Earth" who obtains their materials from fair trade.. And fine champagne!

Basically the rest of the day was spent getting in touch with our loved ones to let them know the wonderful news! Then we went out duckpin bowling with friends and family - which we already had planned for a belated celebration of John's birthday.. but then turned into birthday/congratulations on our engagement!

Oh, I suppose you want to see the ring? ; ) Of course you want to see the ring!

(Sidenote, fingers look really weird close up...)

Well, thanks for reading! We are hoping to plan the wedding for late summer. We'll keep you posted!

Oh, and for those who read this blog for the sewing news.. I have been sewing quite a lot recently.. Most items are Christmas presents so I'll have to show those later.. News soon from the sewing room! I'm too excited about being engaged to talk sewing! : )

Okay. Really.

I want to post more regularly. I really do. And then I found out that it's blog month.. or something.. It's really just an excuse to make myself feel bad that I have been a really bad blogger. No longer.. hopefully...

So, what's been up? Honestly, one thing keeping me from posting lately is that almost everything I've made lately is for Christmas.. I would hate to ruin anyone's surprise. And I would hate to know that from now until Christmas someone out there may think, "Oh no! Why would she think I'd like that?" or "Man, I hope that's not for me!" But, that's my self-doubter talking. Anyways, you all have to wait to see pics of what I'm working on. Unless you work with me at the shop and then you've seen me when I run in right before close soliciting helpful advice and hand-holding for my next step. Well, if the people they're for don't like them, I know some folks who do!

This picture is one of my potholders on Etsy.. Like? Wanna buy it? Oh, I am so shameless...

What else is up? John and I went to South Carolina for our two year anniversary. Very nice trip. It was good to go back there. I'm going to be hosting Thanksgiving. Eek! I'm excited though.. And I'm counting down until we go to England! Flying out Christmas Eve!!! But, oh no!? What do I wear to an English wedding reception? Should I buy something there? Suggestions?

Anyways, that's it for tonight. More soon.. And for old time's sake here's a pic of me sewing in Alaska.. with very short hair...

Machine Down..

I'm in sewing withdrawal. My machine was acting strange for a while lately so this weekend I decided (stupidly) to try to see what was going on. Amazingly, I got the thread to stop snagging but when I put it back together I put a screw in the wrong place... And then couldn't get it back out.. Magnets and ten tools later I decided to do the right thing and get a professional to look at it. Now I just hope I didn't screw it up too much. That machine's one of my favorite possessions!
Here's a pretty picture that brightens my day. The only thing that really grew well were the sunflowers. We (well, mostly John) ripped out the garden the other weekend because it's so darn dry.. It was only our first attempt and hopefully we can try our hands at a fall garden. Maybe some peas and greens.. We'll see!
I do have a pile of things I want to sew up as soon as I get my machine back. I took it to a very reliable shop (AllBrands) so I have high hopes.
See you soon!

Ok. I'm really back.

So, I'm sure very little people even started following my blog and now even fewer are.. Because I haven't been posting in a lonnng time. But, I'm really back now. I've been going through a lot of personal stuff lately that I won't even begin to bore you with. But, rest assured, things are much better now.
Things overall have been very good. I've gotten into a good routine with work and home (if only I could fit in some sort of exercise routine). I have even made time to sew fairly regularly. Which brings me to the exciting news that I am adding items to my Etsy store (which has only ever had one item in it and has been empty for a longg time). The first set is all the same color 'line' but I'm already working on some green/blue stuff.
Of course I'm very nervous that I'm simply going to end up owning a ton of potholders because I wonder if they'll be noticed in the amazing Etsy world. But, all I can do is wait and see. So, if you're interested go to www.Etsy.com and search for username dawnkristal. Or go to http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=36122
More soon.

Flickr Thang...

I've seen a couple of people (including my sister Melissa - click her link) do this Flickr/question thing.. So.. Since I've been really really bad and haven't posted I figured this would be a good way to get a post in..

1. Solat in Masjid Kristal, 2. temari sushi, 3. Me encanta observar, 4. Bosque by Twilight Star Trails, 5. bokeh & bubbles, 6. Gin Tonic, 7. Close up of the Town of Montrosse, 8. strawberry jellyhearts, 9. Upside Down Jellies, 10. simultaneousness…♫ little egrets - egretta garzetta - from bali ♫♫♫, 11. Moody Girl, 12. CBGB "homeless" grafitti (since it closed)

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Yes.. it's Kristal.. which is 'crystal' in a couple of different languages...
2. What is your favorite food? SUSHI! And this looks like a cool way to make it without driving yourself nuts trying to keep the roll tight.
3. What high school did you go to? Good ole Mathews.. I'm kinda sad noone has pictures of it on Flickr.. At least not on the first page
4. What is your favorite color? Red.. 'Nuf said.
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Mmm.. Johnny Depp.. There's a blurry face in the pic and someone thinks it may have been him.
6. Favorite drink? I've been really lovin' some gin & tonic lately.. Good summer drink. I do miss mojitos, but, alas, rum does not treat me nicely for some reason..
7. Dream vacation? "island in italy".. and lots of wine would be involved in that I'm sure. Cool pic.
8. Favorite dessert? I'm not much of a dessert person.. Unless it's Melissa's of course.. But I do like strawberry cheesecake.. And these things look fun but also like too much work..
9. What you want to be when you grow up? I always wanted to be a marine biologist. But these things (jellyfish) scare me too much. Really. Some of them can kill you.. Quickly.. That would suck.
10. What do you love most in life? Sunrises.. New chance every day.. And my middle name's Dawn.. And of course lately I love having a person to share my life with, much like these egrets.. I know, I had to get cheezy eventually.. Which.. Should have been my word (see 11).
11. One Word to describe you. I fretted over this one.. So I picked fretful - which I am.. Very often. I don't want it to describe me but it often does. I think I spend most of the time with a face like this little girl's.
12. Your flickr name.. Mmm. So now I admit I don't have flickr.. I just haven't gotten into it yet.. I will soon though... As well as blogging more soon..

Flickr Thang...

1. Solat in Masjid Kristal, 2. temari sushi, 3. Me encanta observar, 4. Bosque by Twilight Star Trails, 5. bokeh & bubbles, 6. Gin Tonic, 7. Close up of the Town of Montrosse, 8. strawberry jellyhearts, 9. Upside Down Jellies, 10. simultaneousness…♫ little egrets - egretta garzetta - from bali ♫♫♫, 11. Moody Girl, 12. CBGB "homeless" grafitti (since it closed)

Yes, finally, a post!

I know.. I'm awful.. I've been too busy reading other peoples' blogs to even bother with my own. Also, I've been rather busy in general. The man and I actually keep a calendar now, can you believe it?
So, first, a quilting picture..
This is a baby quilt I made for the man's boss who had a baby girl recently. I got it done the night before his last day at work before taking paternity leave. What? I've always been a procrastinator! On top of that, I'm too lazy to figure out how to rotate this picture.. I never said I was great with computers..

The man and I celebrated 1 1/2 years of togetherness (April 13.. I know that was LAST month) and I just have to brag and show you the sunny tulips he got for me!



The other exciting news is that we're gardening! I LOVE spring and I just can't help that instinctive urge to dig in the dirt. We're doing the Square Foot Gardening method. This way I'll try to keep from digging up our whole (rented) yard and think inside the box for a while. :) This is one of our 4x4 square foot boxes. The man loves that he got to get all sorts of tools out for this.. We're going to have two boxes. Just today we worked on filling up the second one with soil and put babies in the first box. Pictures of that soon.. I promise! Well, the oven is yelling at me to get the pizza out.. I promise I'll be better at posting!

Getting settled...

So John and I have moved in to the house we're renting. Still working on getting the boxes all unpacked. We're definitely comfortable and have everything we need - very grateful for that. It's nice to live together now. One of the best things about the house is that we have three bedrooms.. And one of them happens to be dedicated to sewing! Whoohoo! Here's a picture of part of the sewing room (still messy.. who am I kidding - it'll always be messy).

I'm very happy to have this space to call my own. From this view, to the left is the cutting table and against the wall across from the desk is the ironing station. I also have a good sized closet full of the 'stash' of fabric! It's a nice big window that allows a lot of light to come in for most of the day.
The other sewing news is that I went to the Hampton Quilt Show with a few ladies from the shop. It was my first time ever going and it was certainly quite impressive. Lots of quilts entered for competition and then a lot of booths for shops and dealers to show their goods so to speak. Only $5 to get in - definitely worth it for an educational day (with a fair amount of shopping too of course).
Other than that the news is that I just finished my first week at a new job! I am officially a Coastal Liaison for a state environmental department. Yes, a downtown job. I have to admit, despite the traffic, it's quite nice to get out of my old situation. I'm still getting into the swing of things at the new job but once I get a bit more comfortable I think it's going to be a really great thing for me.
So, now that we have internet (after 4 hours of phoning crazy Verizon) I hope to be blogging more often!

My first stuffed animal!

SO, I finally made my first stuffed animal and it's a pink batik elephant! The pattern is from the wonderful book by the people from Purl called Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.
My oldest sister gave me the book and I seriously 'welled up' because I was so excited. I had wanted this book since the day I saw it on purlbee.com
Anyway, I didn't follow ALL the directions (i.e. he has no eyes). And I used bamboo filling which is very nice to work with (it's a bit sticky though in the way that it lints up and sticks to things really well but nothing a lint roller can't fix).
Anyway, he's fun and huggable. His trunk end got crooked so he looks grumpy. It's hard to capture in a picture but this other one may show it. He has a little snarl face. Very appropriate for me.. I feel like I often (unfortunately) have a snarl but overall I'm still cute (right....?).
Anyway, I highly recommend that you check out the book. And some day when the 'evil place' (my job that doesn't make me very happy) lets go of its massive grip on me I may post other fun things I've made from the book.