And I thought I'd be a millionaire...

Unfortunately, however, degrees in English and French did not top the chart of the best-paying college degrees in 2010. A degree in English did, however, rank just above forestry. And I was pleased to see that French actually made the chart. There must be more of us francophiles out there than I'd thought.

Look at the bottom 3 results. Anyone see a problem in our society??

Still 2 more days for the cookbook giveaway!

Look what I made...

AKA "What? Lisa can SEW? With a MACHINE?"

Do you see this? Do you see this? Do you see THIS??? Because I can't stop staring. For the record, "words of praise" is totally my love language. I can't stop praising myself for what I made! By myself! On a machine!

And I apparently can't stop using italics, either. It's an addiction. I'm trying to get away from the incessant semi-colons, so I need my italics to keep me strong.

I first saw the pattern in cherries on The Domestic Notebook and fell in love. THEN, she made the dress with monkeys and I knew I had to try my hand at it.

I give total pattern-credit to Made by Rae and Amber. I ADORE this pattern and already purchased enough material in other colors so I can make more! And one of my best friends is having twins next year... guess what they'll be wearing if either or both are girls.

Finally, I have to tell you how FABULOUS M's sweet aunt is. The kids and I spent several days at her home while M was busy in Iowa. She helped me pick out the fabric, taught me all the basics of cutting and pinning the fabric (she even cut out and pinned 2 of the bodice pieces for me!), set the machine up for me, and supervised me while I got started. I worked on the dress after the kiddos went to bed, which was rather late some nights, so she stayed up until the wee hours of the night with me while I sewed in the basement for two nights in a row. And the most amazing thing of all for me was that she let ME do it all. Now I can say that I made the dress by myself. I am seriously so proud of myself that I might pop. It's been a long time since I've had this much pride in creating anything but my kids (and there was definitely help from M there). I learned how to use bias tape, make my own trim, gather the skirt, sew around curves, and basically just how to use a sewing machine for something more than baby blankets and stuffed teddy bears... the previous extent of my machine experience.

Have you made anything exciting lately? Leave a link if you have something to show off!

PS Don't miss out on the cookbook giveaway!

Cookbook GIVEAWAY!

In a shameless ploy to garner more followers and draw out the "lurkers," I'm having a COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY this week!

I'm giving away my duplicate copy of Cooking in Style the Costco Way.

I'm going to be totally honest-- if you're not the winner, then you can still get every single recipe in the book online HERE. Costco hands their cookbooks out free in their stores each year (a different one each year) and then also publishes them online. But... if you want to OWN a copy, enter to win! I ended up with two of the same cookbooks somehow (my in-laws? My husband brought one home, too? Who knows?) and would love for YOU to have it in your kitchen.

The Grasshopper Parfaits and Iced Mocha Martinis make it worth it, no matter what.

Ways to enter:

1) Comment on this post. Tell me how amazing I am. Or how amazing you are. Or how amazing God/your kids/your pets/your husband/the weird guy at the grocery store is.
2) Leave a comment on ANY of my other posts, then come back to this one and let me know you did. To help you out, the scorpion posts (especially the older ones) are good reads. See "labels" on the sidebar for the topics.
3) Follow publicly (as in, your gorgeous pic will show up over on the right side of my screen) and leave a comment telling me that you do. If you already follow publicly, leave a comment telling me this.
4) Add my blog to your blog list (the one visible on your home page) and let me know, OR mention this giveaway on your blog. Or do both, and I'll throw in an extra entry.
5) Do a random act of kindness. Let me know that you did... you can tell about it, or just mention that you did. I figure that making the world a nicer place is always a good thing.

That's FIVE (really six since I'm being extra generous) ways right there to enter! When I first told Lauren that I was going to have a giveaway (umm... this was MONTHS ago, right after I split my private blog into two blogs in order to take one public), I'm pretty sure she was one of 3 people who commented, and thus had excellent odds of winning. Therefore, Lauren, you get an extra entry just for being a faithful reader/commenter/roomie/bridesmaid/friend. Yay for you!

I'll announce the winner NEXT Thursday using a highly scientific method that involves Advanced Calculus.

Actually, it doesn't. I'm going to put the foam bath numbers 0-9 (or rather, 0-the highest tens/hundreds digit) in the tub with my kids. I'll have my daughter grab a number, mix them all up again, then have my son grab one (which he will likely try to eat). If there are more than 100 entries (Ha! Lisa snorts at that thought), I'll mix them all up again and have my daughter fish out another number.

Thus, I'm going to close the giveaway at MIDNIGHT CST on Wednesday, September 1 (Seriously... it's almost September??) and announce the winner the next morning. Your book will be mailed to you by the next week!

One more thing: I'm posting a picture tomorrow of a dress I MADE. Yes, I, who barely knew how to use a sewing machine until M's wonderful aunt showed me the light (literally... she turned the machine on for me and a light came on), MADE my beautiful daughter a beautiful dress. Coming back tomorrow to see it will be worth your time!

I'm baaaaaack!

Whew! We just returned on Monday after a whirlwind tour of Middle America-- 8 states in all, counting our home state of Texas. M had meetings in Colorado Springs for a couple of days, so the whole family loaded up in our truck and headed northwest through New Mexico. Since M had to be in Iowa the following week for more meetings, we decided to spend a few days and nights in Estes Park, CO and explore Rocky Mountain National Park, then head east with him. The park was spectacular... and 44 degrees on top of the mountains! It was a welcome change from the 100 degree plus heat in Texas.

We then trekked across Nebraska to Iowa, where we were able to visit with some of M's family. The kids and I stayed with a relative for several days while M was in another city for meetings, then we reunited to visit more family before driving home (well, technically to our parents' homes, to pick up the dogs) via Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma to Texas.

And let me tell you... if you're still in love after spending 13 straight hours in a vehicle, after already spending 16 days traveling with 2 kids under the age of 3, you're golden.

If you don't believe me, here's the math:

16 days traveling + 2 kids under 3 + 13 hours in a vehicle = GOLDEN
(See... I told you)

All-in-all, we were gone from home for 18 days. I'd had elaborate visions of working on the homeschooling series,  reading for my book study, typing up recipes for my cooking blog, and doing a myriad of other things.

I think I may have been under the influence of mind-altering substances.

 Instead, I found myself without internet the majority of the time (my computer antenna decided to only pick up signal if I was RIGHT NEXT to a wireless source) and far too busy keeping a crawling baby from falling off hotel beds/a toddler from trying to eat dropped snacks off a hotel floor/both of them from waking up or disturbing everyone else. I missed blogging at first, but once I realized that by being fully present on the trip for the kids and M, I was doing the best thing for my family and myself, then the guilt dissolved.

HOWEVER...

Now that my new best friend, Jen from Conversion Diary, mentioned the homeschooling series on her blog, I REALLY have to get back to blogging. I have a TON more thoughts and I have several guest posters I'm working on lining up, so it should give a fuller view of what homeschooling really is, and how it can look different for everyone.

So, give me one more week to wash laundry, get the kids back on some semblance of a schedule, and cook a few meals, then I'll be back on top of things!

PS I have a giveaway coming up next week! Hint: Following this blog will give you one entry... go ahead and FOLLOW now!

Returning soon...

So, my little blogging break has turned into a two week hiatus. Still using the iPhone for all blogging/commenting needs. Sigh. But... I'll be back early next week and will be continuing the Homeschooling series on Wednesday! With a real computer! And likely carpal tunnel syndrome from overuse of my thumbs with the phone.

No access

I currently have no Internet access beyond my iPhone. And no, I will not type a full post on this thing. So, gone for now but back up soon, hopefully.

Marriage question

What makes a marriage fall apart?

I was humming to myself in the shower while the kids napped (Blessed day! They BOTH took a nap! At the same time!) and realized I was humming a song I liked back in high school. It reminded me of singing to a little boy who I used to babysit, to help him fall asleep.

Those of you who know me in real life are wondering how in the hell my singing helped him to sleep.

But it did. I swear.

Or maybe he passed out from the sheer range of my vocal chords. Ok, it's a slight range. And not a pretty one, at that. But it helped him sleep either way. Moving on...

I babysat for this little boy for years, at least three times a month and often more frequently. His parents were scrupulous about planning date nights-- dinner with friends or seeing a movie together or having game nights with their friends or attending Bible studies at their church. They eventually adopted an infant girl from overseas with a cleft palate, and obviously took on all of her surgery expenses. They always seemed so happy together. I always hoped that my own marriage would someday be like theirs, especially when (embarrassing story ahead... avert your eyes, oh Ye of the Faint Hearts!) I went into their bedroom to get the baby shampoo after a major spit-up incident and found a black négligée hanging on the closet door. This was an old couple... in their THIRTIES... and clearly they were still crazy in love. 

I know. It's frightening that I once found them to be soooo old. Dear heavens, I AM that old now!

Anyway, the shower humming made me think about their son and wonder whatever happened to him. So, thanking modern (invasive) technology, I looked him up on Facebook. 

There were a couple of guys with his name, but I was able to narrow it down to three possibilities, one in which the boy's face was partially obscured and the other two in which graphics replaced the photo. Hmm. Not enough information was posted to help me narrow it down from there. I knew the son would be either 19 or 20 now, but I couldn't figure out which of the three he might be and thought about giving up at this point.

Then I decided to look up his parents. That's when I discovered... (shocker at this point, I'm sure)...

They're not married to each other anymore.

The husband is remarried, and I found the wife on Facebook, but can't tell if she's using her maiden name or a married name. The daughter with the cleft palate, by the way, is ridiculously gorgeous now (and 15!). 

I know it's been around 15 years since I've seen these people, but I was so saddened by the dissolution of their marriage. It's kind of crazy-- the last time I watched their children they were so in love, and suddenly (for me, not them) it ended. I don't understand how it happens. I want some sort of early warning system, like a carbon monoxide alert system, to let me know if my own marriage is starting to veer off the tracks. 

Maybe this is where the Sacrament of Confession comes into play. By keeping our consciences clean, and being forced to examine our failings and temptations, we are more likely to see warning signs. I've gotten lax about Confession recently. I make the excuse that, with two young children, it's hard to get there. But, if I can (someday soon, hopefully!) find time for a haircut, no doubt I can fit in a chance to update my soul, as well. Especially if it provides some added insurance in my marriage!

Saying a prayer for marriages everywhere.