Do you burn more calories when you heart is racing?

It's T-minus 12 days until a little party I'm throwing for 1,000 people.

Yep. A thousand.

To get ready for this little shindig, I had to produce a 10-minute video. Hire a cake decorator from The Food Network. Work with the White House, the Governor's office, and every elected official our hospital is connected to on the city, state, and national level. And ship some custom-made chocolates across the United States in a refrigerated truck.

You might say I'm a little stressed. But I'm also so excited I can barely stand it.

In other news:

-I am now belting all of my flowy shirts so that pestering P-question goes away.

-I finished my Pink Lady quilt... I'm so pleased, even though I learned a difficult lesson in binding the quilt... I stink at it. But it's finished and next time, I'll be hand-finishing that binding.

-I've already started on my next quilt... this one is a gift. I haven't decided if I will go ahead and spill the beans early, or hold out and surprise my sweet friend who will be receiving it, and then just blog about it later. We'll see if I can keep a secret (doubtful).

-I'm taking Mr. Right on a surprise date this Saturday. He plans so many of these for me, and I've never planned one for him. I'm so excited, and I LOVE getting to tease him and watch him squirm - he wants to know SO BADLY what we're going to do. Just between you and me - it's going to be so. much. fun.

-Next week I start teaching English as a Second Language classes at my church, just one evening a week. My life-long dream of being an English teacher is about to be fulfilled in a very unexpected way. God is so cool like that. I can't wait to meet the women from all over the world who will be in my class. They don't know this, but I've been praying for them for months.

-We did a major house decorating update Saturday, for total cost of a can of spray paint. People keep donating the coolest furniture to us (thanks to our parents on both sides), and Saturday we finally put almost everything in its place, painted a mirror, hung pictures, and Mr. Right even built me a shelf from scrap wood he had in our garage. I am so pleased with the finished result, which includes a craft room for me! I now have a fantastic set-up for sewing and crafting in our back spare bedroom, including a dresser I'm using to organize all my supplies. Pictures coming soon. And Mr. Right has an even better-looking office with a vintage-lookig mirror he painted and stained. We realize that once we fill our home with children, my sewing room and his study will probably be relegated to our closet, so we plan to thoroughly enjoy the space while we have it.

During the house decorating, Mr. Right hung up our wedding thumb print tree (we used this in place of a guest book at our wedding and showers... you can buy it off of Etsy) in our living room, and I was so happy to see it up that I cried. I know - I'm a bit sentimental, but seeing the signatures of all of our favorite people absolutely made my day.

It'll probably hang in our house until we're old and gray, and then it will follow us to the nursing home. The verse on there is from 2 Thessalonians 3:5 - the scripture Will began secretly praying over me after our first date.

Swoon.

I'm going to be rich

If I had a dollar for every time some well-meaning person asked me if I was pregnant...

I'd be a dollar richer. Again...

That's right... it happened again. Is this normal, people? I was at a non-profit fundraiser over the weekend, and a well-meaning friend who has known me since I was in college, came up to me, put her arm around me, and said...

Her: So, I hear you have some BIG NEWS for me!

Me: Huh?

Her: I hear you have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Me: uh???

Her: So are you...

And then I knew what she was talking about. The P-word. She never said it out-right, but she didn't have to, I knew what she was referring to. I quickly assured her that I am most definitely NOT pregnant. And then I did my best attempt at laughing it off.

But it still hurt my feelings.

I realize that every time someone asks me (probably about 10 times since January), it's a well-meaning person who knows me and who is probably super excited that I'm finally married, and they probably assume that the next logical step is to immediately make a baby. I keep telling myself that they are not suggesting that I have a baby bump, although I have retired several shirts that may have given that impression.

I know my blog buddies (most of whom have had babies) are much more sensitive than that. But to the rest of the world... please don't ask. Ever.

I promise that when the time comes for a big announcement (and trust me, there are no plans for anything like that for awhile), I will shout it from the rooftops. You know I can't keep a secret. But don't hold your breath - after spending the first four months of our marriage sick in bed, I've got a few adventures to experience before we start expanding our little family.

Speaking of which... for all of my sweet blog friends who prayed so fervently for me earlier this year, I'm happy to report that I have been healthy four straight months! Praise Jesus.

In other news - the "are you pregnant" question didn't do too much to damper our evening. The fundraiser was a big BINGO game, and Mr. Right won one of the largest packages! He won us tickets to the Fort Worth Symphony at Bass Hall, the Dallas Symphony, tickets to several movie theaters, tickets to a live theater production of Scrooge, tickets to the Omni theater, plus some misc. other date nights. We are beyond thrilled.

More quilts

Do you know why I love quilting?

Because of this quilt lying on my bed. A quilt made by Mr. Right's great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother out of the scraps of his grandmother's childhood clothes, and those of her seven brothers and sisters.

It's such a piece of history. What other heirlooms tell that kind of story while looking fantastic in your house? It was a small added bonus that this quilt happens to look like something you'd pick up today from Anthropologie, and it brings a pop of color to our otherwise neutral bedroom.

I just adore it.

That's what I think about as I make my own quilts to give away as gifts. My sister has one of the few I've finished. Okay, I admit... I've only finished two. But I've started three more.

Just for kicks, here's the first quilt I ever made... finished in September 2008. If you ever think about dipping your toe into quilting... a strip quilt is a great first project because they're super fast and super easy.

Tonight I hope to finish my next prized quilt, which I started in the fall of 2008 and took me over a month to piece together. It was a bit aggressive for only my second quilt ever (I started this one before I made Sarah her Ethan Allen scrap quilt), and it was my first exposure to the meticulous measurement (and math!) that quilting requires. For the record, my math is atrocious, but it was worth it.

Originally I started quilting this by hand, and then lost interest about half-way through. (Who me? A.D.D.? Never.) Then a few weeks ago at our family reunion, one of Mr. Right's relatives, who teaches quilting classes (score!) gave me tips on how to quilt on my teeny-tiny sewing machine. I didn't think it was possible to quilt on this $200 Singer I picked up on a whim at Target back in the summer of 2008... but alas, it's totally doable!

In case you're wondering, the secret is to roll the edge of your quilt up, which helps it to fit between the machine and the needle. I had tried just bunching it before, which takes up more space.

It took me several hours to rip out all of my old hand-stitching and then about four hours to quilt everything on my machine, which I did while listening to a book on tape and sipping ice tea. Those four hours of sewing would have taken me about six months by hand, and I'm absolutely giddy about the results. My stitches may be a bit crooked in places, but I think it adds to the home-made quality of the quilt. If you want perfection, go to a department store. If you want personality and a few flaws and lot's of love built into your quilt, then you can have one of mine.

Tonight I've got to bind it. I'm trying a different technique this time, which I'm a little nervous about, but I'm determined to conquer it. Once I do, I'm going to celebrate by purchasing fabric for my next project... it's taking every ounce of will power I have not to go before I finish this one.

And not to worry, the yo-yo's continue... I'm about 150-200 yo-yo's in, with about 800 more to go. I mostly work on that in the car, at the hair salon, or while watching movies with Mr. Right.

Happy quilting!

One year

August 16 marked the one-year anniversary since Mr. Right dropped to a knee and proposed. I've always been big on anniversaries - I love to mark the wins and reminisce about past adventures and reflect on what the Lord has done for us since the last milestone.

So how did we celebrate this anniversary? We went with another couple friend to see The Help (which I think was even better than the book version I read last year) and then came home and re-read the letter Mr. Right used to propose. If you assumed that this weepy woman shed a few tears reading my love letter... you would be right. (You can see it's one of many, many love letters I've collected from my man.)

I realized I've never told the story of how we got engaged... so here goes:

Mr. Right says he knew on our first date that we would get married. It took me a few weeks, but then I too was hooked. We waited six months, which seems fast to some people and slow to others - I've come to realize that everybody is different. For us, the decision was a very easy one.

We talked about everything, including our engagement, ahead of time. Mr. Right told me he would propose sometime in August or September, so August 1 came and went, and I got into hyper-vigilant mode. Every time we got together, I tried to make sure my hair and outfit were absolutely perfect. Since we were hanging out almost every day, that meant about 12 wasted outfits and good hair days.

He picked the one day I never would have expected it. We planned to go to dinner with a couple in our church who had offered to do our marriage counseling once we got engaged. I barely knew them yet (Mr. Right was much closer to them at the time), and being the organized planner that I am, I even confirmed with them at church the day before that we were still on for dinner.

They played right along.

Mr. Right was scheduled to pick me up for dinner. I was worried about making a good impression. And then there was a knock on my door, and instead of my man, it was my sister, who said she was there to kidnap me. She wouldn't tell me where she was taking me.

I knew at that moment that this was it. And I immediately froze. Stopped talking. Went into a daze.

She drove me to Fort Worth. That 15 minute drive dragged on forever as I vacillated back and forth between wanting to pee in my pants with excitement and being too shocked to process any coherent thoughts. So we drove, mostly in silence.

My sister pulled up to the museum district, and standing in front of the Kimball Art Museum was my Mr. Right, looking dapper and holding a wooden box with a giant yellow bow. He took me by the hand and led me to the museum steps, next to the reflecting pool--the site of one of favorite dates when we sat lazily on those museum steps and dreamed about our future together, watching the sunset over that reflecting pool.

But back to the proposal...

He led me to our spot and handed me the box that he said he created for me to hold the many love letters he would write me in the future. Inside was a love letter telling me why he wanted to marry me, what he had prayed over our relationship, and his dreams for our future. It was the perfect proposal for this sentimental sap who loves to reread my love letters over and over and over. After I finished the letter, he dropped to one knee and presented me with a gorgeous ring. I said yes, cried, did a little hugging and jumping up and down, and then my sisters suddenly appeared with cameras and we did an impromptu photoshoot to celebrate the day.

I felt so loved.

In honor of our big day, I thought I'd share the save-the-date video I created for our wedding. Every time I hear this song now, I get warm fuzzies.

Pinterest Love: Quilts & Sewing

I'm so excited to find some of my blog buddies are now Pinterest buddies as well. It's one of the most wonderful things I discovered this summer. That, and Mr. Right's homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookies topped with chocolate-banana icing. Those are pretty spectacular as well. (Now you know why I'm failing miserably at Project 115? But I AM going back to spin again tonight for the THIRD time this week.)

But back to Pinterest... I've been a quilting fool this summer... working on three simultaneously. Mr. Right told me this weekend that the difference between men and women is that a man would start and finish one quilt before he starts another. How boring is that? I know you agree with me... I'm too A.D.D. to commit to just one. Besides, I hope to finish my pink/brown quilt next week while he's out of town (that I started in 2008... I finished piecing it within a month but never got around to doing the quilting part and instead picked up another quilt... and a master's degree... and a husband). After that I'll be down to a very manageable two. So there you go.

But back to Pinterest. Here's some quilts I've discovered on there that make my heart race right now:

This chevron quilt... love the colors and the pattern, which is so hot right now.

I've never thought about adding ruffles to a quilt... but maybe I could do a completely ruffled blanket? Or maybe the lower third ruffles and the top two-thirds quilted? Oh the possibilities! (and the yellow and gray color... still my favorite)

Confession: I've never actually sewn a ruffle. But I had never made a yo-yo before July, so it's just a matter of practice. And sweet-talking my sister to teach me how.

Speaking of yo-yo's... this is officially the prettiest yo-yo quilt I've ever seen.

On second thought, that may not be yo-yo's, it kind of looks like crochet. Which I'm terrible at. But you could still make the pattern with yo-yo's.

This is exquisite, and I love the monochromatic color. I'm not sure it falls into the quilt category, but it's my blog, so I'm putting it in anyway. I have no idea how to make that, and I doubt I ever will.

One of my current quilts is a scrappy quilt, and while making it I discovered these circles on a black background... and now I want to change my current one completely (the grass is always greener... especially when your hand-quilts take a year to produce). But I'm already too far along, so I'll add this one to my ever-growing quilt wish list, and maybe one of my future nieces or nephews will receive one like this:

Or maybe circles on a white background instead:

I don't know if non-crafty people really "get" a girl's need to create something. This has become a hobby that is so fulfilling, such a great creative outlet. And someday, every single one of my family members and friends will have a Bethe Original as a birthday present. It just may take awhile. Like decades.

To the nice lady who...

To the nice lady (who knows me) who said to me this morning... "You don't even LOOK pregnant..."

You're right. I'm not.

And I will never again wear this flowy, puffy shirt without a belt. Ever.

And I'm going to spin class tonight.

And I ate a salad for lunch.

There. I feel better. Almost.

Greatest Weekend EVER

This weekend may go down in history as one of the greatest no-plans, normal weekends EVER. Here are the reasons:

1. My husband preached for the first time. I was so proud, I thought my heart might burst with pride for my preacher man. He spoke to a Wednesday night men's service (can you guess how much I stood out amongst 50 men?) and even though you might think I'm just a tad bit biased... my man hit it out of the park. It was all I could do to stay in my chair, I was so giddy for him.

2. We had a big family dinner of fried chicken, peach cobbler AND strawberry pie to celebrate my dad's birthday Thursday night. There goes Project 115, but it was worth it.

3. I took Friday off from work, and declared it Bethe's Day-O-Fun. And let me tell you, it was fun. I spent the morning in my pj's sipping coffee and sewing yo-yo's while I caught up on missed episodes of the Bachelorette and my favorite prison show. Please, someone start watching it so I have someone to discuss the show with. At noon I mustered up the energy to put on clothes (but no makeup) and met some of my favorite girlfriends for lunch, and then we spent the afternoon at the pool, eating brownies and enjoying those wonderful girl conversations that can only be had on a summer afternoon when no guys are around. It was wonderful.

When I came home, my husband surprised me with FLOWERS and yet another love letter, for absolutely no reason at all. I gushed. And cried. And gushed some more. And then we went out on a hot date to eat our weight in meat and cheese (hooray for the Texas de Brazil buy-one-get-one-free birthday coupon!). Again... Project 115 down the tubes.

4. Saturday, for the record, we went to spin class. I know you're finally giving me a nod of approval amidst some bad food choices this week. I even wore spandex pants, which should be good for extra credit. After class I came home and took the most glorious two-hour-nap a girl could ever have while Mr. Right cooked me a savory brisket in our crock pot, crossing two items off our Summer Bucket List. Go us. (There's brisket under all that cilantro, tomato, poblano, and tomatillo, I promise.)

5. Saturday night we settled in for a quiet evening of movie watching (12 Angry Men) without cell phones, distractions... or makeup. Until I checked my cell phone and realized that every news station in town had called about a certain breaking news story that had just happened at our hospital. Since PR jobs are wonderfully unpredictable, I had to throw on my best black suit and race up to the hospital, makeup bag in tow, scribbling notes on the back of a Hallmark bag I'd dug out of my purse, to take media calls on what turned out to be the lead story on the 10:00 news. What an adrenaline rush. And now many of my coworkers have seen me without makeup. (Then again, they saw a lot worse during my ER visit a few years ago).

6. Sunday was full of church (and Mr. Right teaching again), a baby shower, dinner with friends, and a (gulp) visit to our favorite Mexican bakery for just ONE cookie (I know you're judging me, and I really don't care--maybe weighing 115 isn't worth it anymore).

And now I'm going to turn off my computer, curl up in bed with my latest book friend and coast into the new week rested and happy.

Yo-yo Progress

Today is my day off - and I'm filling it with homemade waffles, lunch and pool time with girlfriends, and then a fancy dinner date with Mr. Right to celebrate the end of his summer semester.

Today is a very good day.

This morning I fit in some yo-yo time while catching up on my favorite TV show... Hard Time. I'm 96 yo-yo's down, about 900 more to go. I'm already in love with this dainty little quilt, which may end up finding a permanent home at the foot of our bed.