Mar 6, 2011

Amelia’s Blessing

By

Today was Amelia’s blessing, our dear friends’ Ali and Tyler’s daughter.  The blessing was very nice.  There were a lot of nice things said and I could feel the Spirit during her blessing.

Amelia looked so pretty in her blessing dress. One of Ali and Tyler’s neighbors made it. It’s beautiful. Not only are there cute little flowers on the bodice, but the skirt also has these embroidered flowers and holes because it’s made from a specific type of fabric. And, of course, I can’t remember the name of the fabric right now. The bracelet Amelia is wearing was from Ali’s mom, who just passed away a little over a month ago. I think it’s beautiful and so fitting right now.

Amelia was also blessed with the afghan I crocheted for her. I’m really happy with how her afghan turned out. I love the ribbon woven through the eyelet round and I love the lace-like edging. (I even managed to tie the bow nicely.) I think it’s perfect for such a beautiful baby!

Today was a great day! Not only did we get to celebrate Amelia’s birth and listen to her beautiful blessing, we also got to eat good food and talk among friends, who are more like family than friends. Corey and I always feel so welcomed and a part of the Vigue’s family not only by Tyler and Ali, but by their families as well.

Filed Under: Crochet, Friends, LDS · 10 Comments
Feb 14, 2011

Amelia Kathleen Vigue

By

Ali and Tyler, our closest friends, have a new addition to their family. Amelia Kathleen Vigue was born Friday, February 11, 2011 at 6:12 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 in. long. Ali and Amelia are doing well.

After Amelia was born (while Tyler was still at the hospital with Ali and Amelia), Corey and I watched Jack, Sheridan, and Henry.  We arrived just in time for bed–Sheridan was already asleep, Henry was busy reading a book, and Jack asked if he could play Uncle Corey’s iPhone for a little bit.  After I put Henry down for bed, I asked Jack if he was excited to have a new sister. He showed me the biggest smile, nodded his head, and said he was excited to meet her the next day.

We had the opportunity to meet little Amelia tonight.  She’s absolutely adorable!  I can’t wait to watch Amelia grow up and see how she adds to the family dynamics.  Even though I’ve just met her, she’s already one of my most favorite people in the whole world!

I always forget how tiny and precious newborns are. Newborns are my favorite because they’re so cuddly, sleepy, and fun to hold! When Corey and I left, I didn’t want to give her back. I’m so grateful for our friendship with Ali and Tyler and that they are always so willing to share their family with us.

Congratulations, Ali and Tyler!

*The professional picture of Amelia was taken by Bella Baby Photography.

Filed Under: Friends, New Arrivals · 2 Comments
Feb 13, 2011

The Breathless Reads Tour

By

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Breathless Reads Tour.

The Breathless Reads Tour featured the Penguin Five (as Ally Condie calls them).  The Penguin Five are five authors that had books released in the fall/winter by Penguin books.  The authors in attendance were Kirsten Miller (author of The Eternal Ones), Brenna Yovanoff (author of The Replacement), Andrea Cremer (author of Nightshade), Ally Condie (author of Matched), and Beth Revis (author of Across the Universe).  Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to read any of the books, except Matched, which I loved!  But, I’m looking forward to reading the other four!

It was so much fun to meet and speak to the authors and listen to theirs answers during the Q&A session.  There were some really great questions and I thought a lot of them were unique, which is refreshing since most of the time the same questions are asked over and over again.

One of the questions that got a lot of reaction from the authors was how they felt about book bloggers.  Most of them laughed kind of awkwardly.  Andrea Cremer asked if this had anything to do with some recent controversy on Twitter between a well-known book blogger and an author, Ally said she was oblivious to any of the controversy going on about it, and the person who asked the question said she was just wondering about their feelings toward book bloggers.  Each of the authors, but mostly Andrea Cremer, assured the audience that they love book bloggers because they help sell their books.  The said that they feel that there are those occasional book bloggers that are unprofessional and call authors names when they write negative reviews of books.  But, on the whole, they feel that the good significantly outweighs the bad.  Oh, they also said that an author should never react, respond, whatever to a negative review.

I know that most people would think meeting the authors and having them sign your books would be the best thing about the tour.  I’ll admit it was awesome to interact with all the authors.  And, I loved having some one-on-one time with Ally again, especially when she told me I was the most happy, laughing, smiley person she knows. But, one of the best parts for me during these events is getting to go to them with my friends!  We always have so much fun together and our “mischief” is what makes these events unforgettable.

Filed Under: Authors, Friends · 24 Comments
Jan 28, 2011

Celebrating Matched with Ally Condie

By

I wasn’t going to post this until tomorrow or Monday so that I spread out my posts a little bit.  But, I’m just way too excited not to share this right away.

Last weekend, my book club had the amazing opportunity to host Ally Condie in celebration of the release of her book Matched.  When we invited Ally to come to our party, she told us she didn’t do many of these anymore because she just didn’t have the time.  But, since we were the only book club to ever invite her to celebrate her book Freshman for President, she wanted to come back.

My friend Debbie and I planned the party.  We wanted it to be big and to embody the essence of Matched as much as possible. I think what we came up with did a really good job!  We decided to have dinner and that the dinner would be served in tinfoilware and to have a dessert buffet.  When Ally came in, she said, “It’s my final banquet.”  If you’ve read the book, you’ll understand. I was thrilled that she got what we were trying to go for.

We decked our friend’s house in green and silver balloons to match the cover of Matched.  We had bowls of red, green, and blue jelly bellies and M&Ms to represent the pills.  (Debbie did a great job of finding them! The colors were perfect!)  We even had green cups, napkins, and plasticware.  Debbie put together two posters representing the 100 list of poems and music that were approved by The Society.

At the party, we had everyone bring a memento and explain why they’d choose that item as their memento.  I had mine all ready and ended up leaving it in my purse in my car.  I got a ride from Debbie to the party, so that’s why it was such a big deal for it to be in my car.  It was really fun finding out what people would choose as their memento if they had to live in Cassia’s society.  After we shared our memento, we decided that some of the ones we had chosen wouldn’t have been allowed because they were too valuable (e.g. wedding rings, ivory necklace, ruby ring).

Afterward, we spent about an hour or more just asking Ally questions.  She answered some and held back on others, not wanting to ruin our anticipation of the other two books in the trilogy.

We wanted to thank Ally for taking the time to come to our party, so I had the idea of having a vinyl lettered sign made with the quote, “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas because that poem was a big deal in Matched.  I just didn’t know how to have it made, but my friends Nancy and Shelli offered to handle the logistics of the gift and it turned out absolutely fabulous! They even gave her a little bush of roses. (Again, if you’ve read the book, you’ll know why that’s important.)

After we had given the gift to Ally, Nancy gave each one of us a box to open at the same time.  We had no idea what it was or that it was even coming.  When we opened the box, we were all stunned to find a beautifully jeweled compact.  Ally was shocked and said it was the perfect thing to get.  She told us that she had told her husband she wanted to find a compact to commemorate Cassia and her memento.

The party was so much fun! I was so glad Ally took the time to come.  But, it wouldn’t have been nearly as great if it hadn’t been for my friends.  I’m always amazed at the things they can pull off to make our parties so much fun!  They’re such an awesome group of people and my life is definitely better for knowing them.  It was a night to remember!

Filed Under: Authors, Friends, Parties, SLTA · 24 Comments
Jan 1, 2011

More Aminekos

By

While I was crocheting the aminekos for my nieces last year, Corey and I went over to our friends’ to watch their kids. Jack, their oldest, was so interested in what I was doing. He thought it was so cool that I could “knit” a cat and he kept telling me that he’d like a green one.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to make him, his little sister, and his little brother one until now.  (I finished them yesterday after working on them for a little over a week.)

Sheridan’s is the pink one, Jack’s is of course the green one, and Henry’s is the blue one.  Jack’s is my favorite of the bunch.  I just like the color and how he turned out.

I can’t wait to give the kids their cat.  I hope they’ll like them and be able to enjoy them for many years to come.  I also can’t wait to hear what each of the kids will name their cat.

Just like with the ones I made last year, I can see every flaw, but I’m trying to look at them as God would His children.  I’m trying to realize the flaws give each one their own personality and character even though it’s against my perfectionist nature to like something I’ve made that’s not perfect.  I guess it’s a good thing that I have a hobby like this because it helps challenge my way of thinking that everything needs to be perfect.

Filed Under: Crochet, Friends · 17 Comments
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »