Addictions...Part 2

So when I'm not indulging in these (Yes! Michael got me the entire saga in hard back--he really loves me!), I have another addiction I've been working on....QUILTING!

Some of my favorite quilt ideas

I've been wanting to learn how to quilt for years now. I thought I could teach myself and went online but found everything overwhelming and intimidating. Shawnia, an awesome lady in our ward, offered to teach a quilting class for me for Enrichment. The class is quilt blocks from around the world. She is an amazing quilter and an amazing person! I can't believe she is teaching this for free. I have so much to learn from her. We started out basic and every month we learn a new quilt block from a different country. So far we have done blocks from
Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany (I'm a little behind and don't have them all done yet). I decided to do all the blocks in black and white fabrics. I plan on making a throw for my sofa. I look forward to this class every month and love the friendships I have gained, too! We laugh, talk, sew, and laugh some more!

I have loved learning this new skill--so much so that one block a month just wasn't enough for me. No...as with any true addiction, I needed more. So I decided to make quilts for Emma and Sophia. I know, I'm crazy. But I love quilting! I'm not an expert in any way but I find it very rewarding. So I researched out many patterns, took what I liked and made my own pattern. These are my favorite sites for ideas:
www.ohfransson.com
crazymomquilts.blogspot.com
www.modabakeshop.com



So this is what I've come up with: all pink! I found a lot of cute pink fabrics at my favorite shop Material Girls.
I'm making 2 twin size quilts so that is 160 squares total. It may take me a while to get them completed but I love the way they are turning out so far! I was so addicted that I even took my sewing machine as my carry on when Michael and I flew to Las Vegas. Michael had a work conference from 9-5 everyday and I just stayed in the hotel room and quilted. The housekeepers would come in and stare at me, trying to figure out what I was doing. I'm sure they all thought I was crazy. But I was in heaven. I think this is one addiction that I will be able to keep up with for the rest of my life.

Madsen Sibling Reunion

My brother Nathan, his wife Alissa, and their son, Spencer, came all the way from New York for a visit this weekend. We haven't seen them since Seth's wedding last May and we had never met little Spencer. It was such a great visit! Spencer is the cutest baby I've ever met--I know I'm a biased Aunt but just look at that face and those eyes! Too precious!


They flew in Thursday night and we had dinner with Stephen and Eiko. We introduced Nate and Alissa to Rock Band and rocked out all night! They caught on quickly and were instant experts on guitar--guess that's what you get from professional musicians!

Friday, the brothers (Stephen, Nathan and Seth) had a "man lunch" and some male bonding time. Melinda came up and the ladies and kids just hung out and had a yummy lunch. Friday night, Hilary came for dinner and we watched the season finale of the Office together. Many laughs.

Saturday, we headed up to Midway to see Dad. It was a beautiful day and very peaceful in the Midway Cemetery. Later, we got scones (no chicken fried steak this time) at Chick's Cafe in Heber. It's a family tradition--we can't go to Midway without a trip to Chick's--my Dad would have been proud! Saturday night, we had pizza from the Pie and played more Rock Band. Nathan's rendition of Beastie Boys "Whatcha Want" had us all laughing 'til it hurt!



Sunday was great. Stephen and Eiko, Seth and Melinda, and Hilary all came and it's the first time all the siblings had been together in over a year. We just sat around and talked, ate lots of yummy food and laughed a lot. I forgot how loud the Madsen's can be! Reminiscing was fun!I haven't laughed this much in a long time! It was so wonderful to have everyone here! Thanks to you all for a great weekend!

Addictions...Part 1

ad·dic·tion [uh-dik-shuhn] The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.

So I have been struggling with some addictions lately. The first one is a bit embarrassing for me and I have struggled posting about it for a while now. But many have requested pictures so here it goes!

My name is Amanda and I'm addicted to Twilight.

I can hear all of your gasps!

I know what you are saying: "Amanda vowed to never read these books and futhermore used to make fun of everyone who was so obsessed with Twilight!"

So you are asking yourself: "How could this happen?"

I blame it all on two people. (Isn't that what you do--blame someone else for your problems?)

So, Jennilynn--this is all your fault. You made me go see the movie with you--even bought my ticket. You provided me with my first hit for free! And I loved it! Not enough to want to read the books yet but enough to desensitize me to the idea.

But Jennilynn is not the only one to blame here! Jaqui--this is your fault too! You just had to bring that whole stack of books over and leave them there to tempt me! You knew full well what would happen to me!

So I blame you both for me completely abandoning my family for 4 full days! I started Twilight on a Friday, finished it Friday night. Started New Moon on Saturday, finished it Saturday night. I did take a break on Sunday--well, sort of--I started Eclipse Sunday night and finished it on Monday. Breaking Dawn took me all day Tuesday and I finished it Wednesday morning. Four full days, people! I couldn't put it down. I had to find out how it all ended. I loved escaping into this world Stephanie Meyer created and I didn't want to leave! It was a journey I will never forget!

I know, I know! I'm lame! Stupid! Ridiculous! This went against my very nature of usually repelling whatever is "popular"! I don't know what is wrong with me! I've been trying to figure out why...why did I like it so much? Why was I drawn to these characters, the situations they were in, the outcomes...why? Maybe because it made me feel young again. Maybe it reminded me of falling in love, what those butterflies felt like. Maybe it reminded me of why I married Michael--what true love feels like. Maybe I just needed an escape! I honestly don't have all the answers for you! But I'm hooked...obsessed...and what do I do...throw a party, of course!

A Twilight DVD release party!

The Invitations





The Goodie Bags included a Twilight book mark, Shimmer Body Wash (so you can sparkle), Red Fingernail Polish (Alice would approve), and "Edward's Kiss" lip gloss, that we made that night!


I had way too much fun with the decorations...red, black and white everything...I even turned on my Christmas lights outside for the true "Alice" effect
Everyone helped with the food. Jennilynn made yummy bacon wrapped chestnuts, little smokies and veggies and dip. Heather brought "Bitten" red velvet cupcakes, red popcorn and she helped me make caramel apples with white chocolate and cinnamon sugar. Colleen made Bella and Edward sugar cookies with black frosting. Everyone brought red, black and white candy. I made Heidi's red slushy punch drink that I called "The Cold One". We had way too much food and ate all night long. We started the party at 9 pm with making the lip gloss and then moved on to a fabulous Jeopardy style Twilight trivia game that Jaqui put so much work into! It was so fun! Everyone was so loud and we were all surprised we didn't know as much as we thought about our favorite books! Not as much as Jaqui and Kelly anyways!

Pictured: Heather Shepherd, Kelly Purser, Emily Norman, Shannon Reese, Jenny Chadwick, Christy Hansen, Jennilynn Hawkins, Heidi Allred, Heather Carlile, Jen Fisher, Colleen Fluckiger, Beth Emmett

Then we all painted our nails red and headed to Walmart to get our hands on a copy of the DVD at midnight.


We waited in line for about an hour and had fun chatting and trying to stay awake. By the time we made it home and started the movie it was about 1:30 am. Can I just say, it was so fun to watch the movie with all of you! I LOVED all the comments...I don't think I have laughed that much in a very long time! Not everyone made it to the end of the movie. Wimps! Around 4 am, we finally called it quits, after watching all the deleted scenes, of course. But it didn't end for me there...oh no! I was crazy enough to get 3 hours of sleep and head to Target with Jaqui at 8 am for the 3 disc DVD version! I know...Obsessed!


This was so much fun for me! I hope everyone had a great time! I loved sharing my Twilight obsession with all of you and now feel a little better that I'm not alone in loving these books! If you weren't invited, don't be sad(or mad, please)! I just didn't know who all had read the books and wasn't sure who wouldn't look at me like I'm crazy when I mentioned Twilight (it's still kinda embarrassing for me!) So if you are into it at all, leave me a comment, let me know so I can talk Twilight with you. If you are not into it--just wait! I'll try and convince you to read it, so you can be as crazy as me!

Create

I'm posting this video, first, because Michael's cousin, Katie and her sweet baby Claire are in it! And second because I need the inspiration this brings!

Feels like home!

Our home finally feels like us. After living with army brown/green walls for too long, we finally tackled the biggest painting job yet...the main level. The entire entryway, living room, kitchen dining room, and stairway have a new look. We replaced all the molding and painted all the walls a light taupe and the trim a bright white! We love it!

Living Room

The chair we got for Christmas!

Entryway


Kitchen

Dining Room

Stairs

My kids were completely neglected for two days straight! Thank Goodness for movies and Lego Star Wars! They just hung out in the family room, in pajamas, jumping on all the furniture with no supervision! They loved it!
Painting 20 foot ceilings was not fun. We were on very tall ladders for two days straight. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone! We only had a few minor injuries along the way. Michael gave us all the fright of our lives when he fell off the ladder. He was removing one of the recessed lights when the ladder slipped on wood floor. He came crashing down and luckily only received minor scraps and bruises. The wall wasn't so lucky. We are still patching the mess and hope to have the wall back to new soon!
We could have never got all of this done without help! Thanks to Seth, Melinda and Cliff for risking their lives on ladders and painting with us! Sorry for all the soreness and muscle strains! We owe you a big steak dinner!

A visit from Floyd

Floyd and Betty(photo from Floyd)

I love the holiday break because we have time to meet up with old friends. Floyd and his family came for a visit after Christmas. It was so good to see him again after a very long time! For those of you who don't know, Floyd is Michael's best friend from High School.

A lot has happened since we saw him last! He married Betty about a year ago and they have a new baby boy, Ender. We also met his stepdaughter, Leslie, who was so great with the kids! We had a yummy dinner and of course had to play Rock Band. It was fun to see Leslie LAUGHING at her parents play! We are so happy for Floyd--it's great to see him happy! We love Betty! She is so good for Floyd and we hope to get to know her better. Thanks for the visit--and next time let's not let 2 years go by before we see you again!

2009 So Far....

I have had no motivation to do anything...blog...get my pictures off my camera to blog...bad way to start off the new year! So I'm kicking myself in the butt to get caught up! First off New Years Eve!
We had a bunch of family over and had a very laid back, eat a ton of food kind of party! The kids all played upstairs while the "grown ups" played a little Rock Band--okay a lot of Rock Band!

Michael's mad drum skills, Ian passed out on the floor--too much partying for him, Sarah tries her hand at the drums and John sings "Livin' on a Prayer" just like a rock star!

Check out Michael rocking out on the drums...look for the tongue!



Then it was out in the cold for fireworks, climbing our snow mountain and lots and lots of noise. It was freezing but fun!

Otis Family Christmas Dinner

Sunday Night we had the whole Otis clan (plus Seth and Melinda) for Christmas dinner. It was great family fun. I love doing dinner at my house. I love getting the house and table all decked out. I love cooking and baking for a crowd. I know most people dread it but I love it! So thanks for indulging me and driving "all the way up here" so I could do this dinner!



There are 10 grand kids now and they range from 9 to 1 in age, so it was a little crazy but my kids love their cousins! Cliff always has us do a Christmas program and then gives us some family goals to work on. It's hard to keep all the kids quiet for that long but it's worth it. Cliff always has some profound (and funny)things to share with us. We shared our favorite stories about Jesus and "sang"(if you've heard the Otis's sing, you know what I mean!) Christmas song classics, like Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer! Great fun! Great memories!