What a week!

Forgive my absence, but I have been running around this week like a chicken with it's head cut off. We got home at 11:30 Monday night, and I haven't been home much since. Between getting caught up with laundry, delivering new catalogs, food shopping, spending time with friends, and shuttling Hope everywhere, this is the first chance I've had to sit down at the computer.

Beautiful Beck of Beck to Vintage has awarded me the Liebster Blog Award. Thank you so much, Beck!
This award is for bloggers with less than 200 followers (or sometimes 100 followers depending on where you read the rules; I'm going with the 200) who have wonderful blogs more people should know about. I'd like to present it to the following blogs:
1. A Bucketful of Everything
2. Crochet Dyverse
3. Hooks, Lines and Singers
4. Loopy Pink Contemplation
5. Tillie Tulip

If you haven't had a chance to check out these very nice blogs, click on the links above.

Beautiful Beck of Beck to Vintage and Darling Debi of Dly's Hooks and Yarns have awarded me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you so much, Beck and Debi!
The rules are I must share 7 things about myself, so here goes:
1. I live in Florida, but I can't swim.
2. I don't have a sense of smell.
3. I'm a night owl.
4. I learned to crochet a year and a half ago in a class at my church.
5. I like to eat most vegetables raw but not cooked.
6. I think all food can be improved with chocolate, bacon and cheese (but probably not all three in the same food!)
7. I met my sweet hubby through an online dating service.
Now I need to nominate up to 15 blogs for this award. So many wonderful ones to choose from! Here are my picks (not all are crochet blogs):
Frills and Thrills
Marie's Making
Hookin It With Mr. Lick Lick
Repeat Crafter Me
Chipper Nelly
A Pumpkin and A Princess
Katie the Scrapbook Lady
Cute As A Button 82
Hooked! A Crochet Addict's Blog
Good Morning Girls
Andamento
Wise Craft
Suzies Stuff
Crochet in Color
Life Multithreaded
If these are new blogs to you, check them out; you might find a new treasure :-)

If any of the nominees do not accept blog awards, that's OK. Just know reading your blog brings joy to my day.
As I'm falling asleep at the computer (some night owl!), I'll wait until tomorrow to let everyone know about their awards.
Thanks for reading!
Blessings :-)

Days 5, 6, 7 and 8

A little catch up here. The last three days of our convention was such a whirlwind, my head's still spinning. But it's like that every year: up at 6am, at the convention center by 8am, back at the hotel at 11pm. We were so drained after each day we just crashed. But it's all worth it; it's the most amazing time, kind of a cross between a Billy Graham revival and the Price is Right.

We had about 7000 attendees this year, a little smaller than last year. Mostly women, but we get more and more men every year.
Thursday was my favorite day at convention because they introduce the new jewelry. Very exciting!
Friday was my favorite day at convention because we had great trainings and guest speakers. This year, we had Nick Vujicic from Life Without Limbs. Words cannot express how absolutely amazing he is! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera Friday so I didn't get any pictures. Aarrgh!
Saturday was my favorite day at convention because we had a huge tribute to America and the armed forces.

This year has been the best ever! Of course, we say that every year :-)
So we got up this morning, packed the car, and headed out. It was a quiet, uneventful trip. We're staying at the same hotel we stayed in on the way to Texas. We went out to dinner at a really great, Cajun restaurant this evening.

We got there right at closing; that's why there's no one in this picture. It was really busy when we got there and the food was amazing.
Home tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Thanks for reading!
Blessings :-)

Day 4

Today was half work, half play. We picked up our convention materials this morning and explored the exhibit hall. My favorite part is always visiting with the missionaries.

Part of the reason the jewelry company we work for was founded was to support missions and charities. Each year we get to see all the new pictures of all the projects we've helped support.
After lunch we went back to the hotel to take a nap, then went down to the Fort Worth Stockyards. It's a neat section of town with a lot of cool shops. Too bad we got there too late for the daily cattle drive :-(

Didn't go inside here, but love the sign.

Very famous Western wear store, home of genuine $400 cowboy boots. Tim bought a nice patriotic tie here last year (he only spent $20)

Never eaten here, but I hear it's very good.

Another cool sign.

Tim with the Duke.

Another cool shop name.

Everyone should have stools like this in their home. I wish I could remember the name of the store; it was interesting enough for us to go inside.

Definitely a Texas place.

After we left the stockyards,we had dinner at Cheddar's with some friends. But before we went there, I had to stop at 

Of course :-)

Tomorrow, the convention begins. I'm so excited!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Photo a Day July 10 and 11

I think I fell asleep at the computer last night; I uploaded my picture of the day but then forgot to post it! It was really late, though.
July 10 topic was My Favorite Color.

My favorite color is purple, especially dark purple. I saw this very pretty top at Dress Barn; it looked better on the hanger so I didn't buy it, but I still love the color.

July 11 topic is Letter.

 I found a display of funky letter tiles at Hobby Lobby; they hang on the wall and I guess you can spell whatever you like with them. Each one is different. I photographed the K because it's my first initial and I like the suns.

Click on the button on the left for more info on the Photo a Day in July Challenge.

Thanks for reading!
Blessings :-)

Day 3

Today was all about retail therapy.

This is one of my favorite stores: Sam Moon. The purse paradise! They also have two other stores in the complex that specialize in luggage and home decor.

Cute owl purses! 

And this is one of Tim's favorite stores. We have this in Florida, but this particular store is unique.

It's right on the water. You can arrive by car or by boat. There is also a very nice seafood restaurant inside the store.

We had a late lunch, so by the time we got to the restaurant, the only thing I wanted was dessert. Now that's what I call an apple cobbler!

 We found some wildlife bobbing in the water behind the store; they were happy to share the leftovers.

Beautiful memorial. Traffic was too bad to stop to take a proper picture, but I managed to snap this out the car window before the light turned green.
Found some cute gifts:

 For my friend, Amanda

For my friend, Linda (she collects these)

For Hope (horses, of course)

Also for Hope (she's made the decision to get her ears pierced)

Also for Hope (her favorite color, and she loves anything with her name on it)

It was a long day, but a good one. I made another 33 yo yos and started working on the 3rd row of the blanket.
See you tomorrow :-)
Thanks for reading!
Blessings :-)

Photo a Day July 9

Today's topic was Big. Easy enough to find something big in Texas!

This is the D.R. Horton tower in downtown Fort Worth.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

To find out more about the Photo a Day challenge, click on the button on the left.

Day 2

It started raining as soon as we left our hotel this morning and didn't stop until we crossed the Texas border.

Tim and I outside the Texas Welcome Center

Photographed some pretty flowers at a rest stop in Dallas.

Cool mosaic at that same rest stop.

Fort Worth skyline! Woo hoo! We made it!!

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and unpacking. Oh, and I made another 90 yo yos today; I might just get this blanket done before we get home!

See you tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

P.S. A big thanks to Beck for the Liebster Blog Award! I will post about that when I get back.