Busy busy busy

It's been a while since I've posted. Things have been extremely busy both work related and home related. Last weekend we hosted our charity poker event to raise money for the Kidney Foundation here in Maine. It was so much fun and great to have so many people that were willing to give to charity. The Kidney Walk is this Sunday at Deering Oaks Park if anyone is around and wants to join. Please check out our website as well - I am pleased to announce we have gone over our goal of raising $1,000. People have been so generous that I feel my words cannot express the gratitude I feel. http://www.firstgiving.com/TeamPoulin is the website.

I've also been working on a Halloween costume for my niece. I had a lot of trouble with this one because it was from an actual pattern. Usually I've used tutorials and have done okay, but real patterns are like reading blueprints to me. Weird, because I look at blueprints all the time at work - but it took me a long time to be able to understand what I'm looking at. All in all it turned out well. I think she'll just be happy because it's pink.

Tie Dye Turtle

I made this soft toy turtle from Amy Karol's book Bend the Rules Sewing (see my books on the right). He's not finished yet - but this was the last chance I had to photograph him before I gave him away.

Peter

Have you met him? This is my wonderful brother Peter (I have two - Terry is the other one and equally as wonderful). Peter is the handsome fellow on the right if you are looking at the photo. You see, Pete left for Afghanistan a couple weeks ago and will be there for a while. We are very lucky to be able to email each other and keep in touch. I am so proud of him although he will state that he is doing his job as he has with other missions. As you go about your day and spend time with your loved ones, please remember there are men and women all over the world that would love to be home with their families, but recognize the importance of doing their jobs so we have the ability to be with our families. We love you Peter!

1666

This was the number I recieved when I signed up for the half-marathon back in August. I tried not to take it as a sign, but I think now it may be my good luck number! This was the first half-marathon I had done in about three years since having knee surgery and struggling to finish the other two I had done back in that time frame. Believe me I am not a natural runner - never have been. So after doing the Beach to Beacon in August I decided to do this and am happy that I did. I trained more than I have before but yet not to the point I should have, however I had such a great experience yesterday and a lot of fun. Thoughts go out to fellow runners who braved the heat in Chicago. After training for five months for an event, it's not an easy decision to stop running. Congrats on finishing the marathon Marjie!

Highlights from my half marathon:

- The people were all amazing and friendly.
- The weather - cool and cloudy makes the best running conditions
- Valori and Chris cheering me on along the course
- The guy in the chicken suit at mile 10 handing out beer - yes I took it.
- Finishing in 2:29:45 which makes my goal of finishing in under 2:30:00

And the biggest highlight all running season and in my life is Chris. Multiple times this summer he has woken up early (and I mean early) on the weekend to come see me finish a run or take me to the run. He's encouraged me in my training and also has been supportive on my lack of drinking beer during training by letting me have sips of his. He is my biggest fan.

Have you been here yet?

If you live in Portland you may have been here http://www.zfabric.com/? I stopped in yesterday afternoon after a nice walk on the Eastern Prom and fell in love immediately. They have been open about a year (the same time I moved out of the neighborhood) and are growing as a business. They offer great fabrics that you just can't find at the commercial fabric store and it's supporting our local economy. I would show you what I bought but I'm making wedding presents for the weddings that we went to in September.

One Year Ago....

One year ago we closed on our house. We made the decision to move in together and buy a house effortlessly. There were no big conversations on if the time was right....we just knew it was. I drove and looked at this house the day before we were scheduled to go inside and peeked in the windows (it had been empty for a while). I knew then that this was our place. We looked at it together the next day and talked to a neighbor who was outside and we both knew this was where we belonged. Here are some before and after photos from the past year!

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