Home Sweet Home

I hate buying light bulbs in England. There are just too many different kinds!

The other day when I was in Asda I picked up the one on the right not realizing that it was the kind that you push in and twist.

Then today when we were at Asda again I made sure to get the kind on the left that screws into place only to find out the base is too large and it still doesn't fit my light fixture. I never had this trouble in America.

Today Andy and I were scheduled to work 8-4 but the company closed at 1pm so that was a nice surprise. Almost all of the supermarkets were closing at 6pm so we ran and did some shopping for tomorrow. My family has always made Ham and Beans on New Years Day and this is something I have always continued so I needed to get everything for it. After we bought some groceries we went to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes. It was very good! I will have to admit it was a little slow at the start but we were both very tired so that might not have helped the situation... It also had an ending that suggested there will be another one which who could say no to another two hours of Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr? Not me that's for sure.

Nothing else really planned for tonight. I talked to my Mom on the phone for a little over an hour to catch up with her over the last week, cross stitched a little, kissed Andy and midnight, watched Eastenders and then went to bed. Boring but very nice.

High: 37°
Low: 30°
Forecast: Times of Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 8:27 AM
Sunset: 4:00 PM

I love Baileys!

I am not a drinker but I do love a little bit of Baileys in my coffee from time to time so when I got this little thing of Baileys in a commemorative tin and these delicious Baileys chocolates for Christmas I was a very happy camper!

Andy's dad got everybody a little something like this that he wrapped and had waiting for us on the table at Christmas dinner. I just got around to eating some of the chocolate and it is so very yummy.

High: 38°
Low: 36°
Forecast: Periods of Snow and Rain
Sunrise: 8:27 AM
Sunset: 3:59 PM

Unfortunately I had to go back to work today and Andy had the day off.

I came home to find this. I can see that making the bed when he woke up was not on his list of priorities.

I did mention this to him and he said "Nobody comes over, it is not like anybody is going to see it not made." What a male response. He also has tomorrow off so I can't wait to see if he makes it seeing as how I pointed out to him that I would like to have a nice straightened up bed to come home to.

We shall see.

High: 39°
Low: 33°
Forecast: Periods of Snow and Rain
Sunrise: 8:27 AM
Sunset: 3:58 PM

This is the area just under the Gwladys Street Stand at Goodison Park. Our season ticket seats are located in Lower Gwladys and it is known to be the best area when it comes to atmosphere at Goodison.

Today we were playing against Burnley and to honest it was a must win match for us. We are not at the bottom of the table but we have been hovering on the 2nd page of the table since the start of the season.

Thankfully we won 2-0 and it was great! The place went crazy and the players got a great sending off when the match ended. Unfortunately we have some tough matches coming up but hopefully we can build a bit of a winning streak.

High: 36°
Low: 32°
Forecast: Fog
Sunrise: 8:27 AM
Sunset: 3:58 PM

This a new cross stitch kit that I got for Christmas. I started it yesterday and have pretty much worked on it all day today. It is a Dimensions Gold kit called European Bistro. Once completed it will be framed and hung in my kitchen.


However as you can see it is very detailed so it may take me a while to get it completed. While I was working on Meg's baby quilt I had started watching Brothers & Sisters as I had never watched it before. I am now addicted to it and am finding my stitching time a good time to catch up and I am up to the start of season 3. They are currently in the middle of season 4 so I still have a few to watch. I will be gutted when I do catch up though as I will have to wait a whole week in between episodes.

When I do catch up I will have to find a new series to start watching.

High: 44°
Low: 38°
Forecast: A Couple of Showers
Sunrise: 8:27 AM
Sunset: 3:56 PM

I have started keeping all of the glass candle holders once the candle has burnt down. It's pretty easy to clean them out. I love burning a nice smelling candle but boy are they expensive. I am going to starting looking into how to make my own candles so as a way to cut down some of the cost.

Plus it is a new craft I can enjoy doing... and we all know how I love my crafts!

High: 43°
Low: 35°
Forecast: A Couple of Showers
Sunrise: 8:26 AM
Sunset: 3:55 PM

Merry Christmas everybody! No it didn't snow today but with the thick fog all around I just pretended like it was snow.

We had a lovely dinner over at Andy's parent's house and we finished it all off by playing some Wii with his dad. We then came home and I called my mom to wish her a Merry Christmas.

I hope everybody got exactly what they wanted and a fun time was had by all.

High: 37°
Low: 37°
Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, Late Sleet
Sunrise: 8:26 AM
Sunset: 3:55 PM

This is the beautiful Christmas table runner that Laura M gave me as my Secret Santa. How perfect is this for me? It's country and the colors are wonderful. Thanks again Laura... you did very well!

Andy and I were scheduled to work from 9:00am - 5:00pm today but we were told we could leave at 1:00pm and this made everybody very happy. Now I don't have to be back at work until Tuesday the 29th. Yay!

We stopped and did some last minute food shopping and then when Andy and I got home we were talking about what we wanted to do with the rest of the day. We checked the movie listings and decided to try to make it to the 3:20pm showing of Avatar 3D. Thankfully when we got there it had not yet sold out so we settled in our seats for the next 3+ hours.

What can I say about this movie? Honestly the only words that come to mind are beautiful and stunning. I don't care how long the movie is at the end I was wishing for it to continue. The graphics in this movie are like none I have ever seen before. Of course the 3D effects help bring everything to life right before you but it is more than just that. I was glad to see that not only did they focus on the look of the film but I also quite enjoyed the story which was a nice surprise.

I can not recommend this movie enough. I strongly suggest the 3D version as it is not gimmicky as in 'here let me reach for something off camera so that my hand can come out at the audience'. The 3D is there to bring the beautiful things around the characters out to the audience so that they can experience them also. Although if you can not catch it in 3D I am sure the 2D version is just as beautiful.

High: 39°
Low: 38°
Forecast: Increasing Clouds
Sunrise: 8:26 AM
Sunset: 3:55 PM

Today was fun with glitter pens time!

Honestly it was very hard to concentrate at work today. The ground is covered with snow, it looks beautiful out and there are only two days until Christmas... Work is not where you want to be. But I had to work today and I have to work tomorrow so I will make the most of it.

On a fun note... It also started to snow again tonight. Yay! I was sitting in the living room and I heard something on the front window. I went to check it out and found Pazzesca trying to catch the huge snowflakes as they came down. I managed to catch a bit of it on video... how cute is she?

Today was our Christmas lunch at work where we get to exchange our Secret Santa gifts. You can rest assured that this was not Christian's only gift but if it was I am sure he would have been just as happy.

I give him a 9 out of 10. I had to mark him off one point because he was picking the thong out of his butt during this photo shoot.


These are all of my Christmas cards from co-workers. As you can see Laura M will do anything she can to get in a photo... But I will forgive her as she was my Secret Santa and she bought me a beautiful Christmas table runner that I had been admiring while we were out at Botany Bay back on November 21st. Apparently she gave Laura C the money for it and she bought it with me there with them on that day! See... anything can get by me as I had no idea something was up. I was going to take a photo of it today but I think it deserves it's own day so I will hold off.


It also snowed off and on all day and because it was showing no signs of stopping they let us go home early today. I was supposed to be there until 5:00pm so I was able to leave an hour early which was nice. The roads were pretty bad so the extra time helped before the major traffic started.

Oh and for those of you that have not noticed but to the right there is a link to my new 'Crafty Christine' blog. I started it as a way to try to keep track of all of my crafty projects that I have going on. It will not be updated every day but I will do my best to update on new projects that I start and complete.

I actually made a Scrapbook Calendar as my Secret Santa gift for my Supervisor. I have posted pictures of it on that blog if you would like to see it.

I had to take Andy to work this morning as I did not have to be in until Noon.

Now to me this road does not look that bad and other than taking it a little bit slower and a bit more concentration nothing should cause any issues.

To work was not an issue, as you can see the oncoming traffic is moving at a steady pace.

But then why did it take me 52 minutes to make it one way from our place of work back to home which is only a little over six miles away?

UGH!

High: 35°
Low: 30°
Forecast: Light Snow
Sunrise: 8:25 AM
Sunset: 3:53 PM

We hit every kind of weather on our way to Liverpool today for the match. When we left Westhoughton it was snowing. Then we drove through some hail.


At one point it was even pouring down rain... Then it all of a sudden started snowing really heavy again.

However the strangest bit had to be when we got into Liverpool and there was blue sky and sun. It truly was weird as we only live a little over 20 miles away from Liverpool.

However in the top picture you can see that during the match it started raining and then hailing really bad. The poor players had to continue play and I know they had to be freezing... but then I thought about all of the money they get paid to be out there and I stopped feeling sorry for them.

High: 33°
Low: 30°
Forecast: Periods of Snow
Sunrise: 8:24 AM
Sunset: 3:52 PM

It started snowing this morning and they were the largest flakes I have ever seen! Was happy not to have to go anywhere and to admire the snow from inside our warm and cozy house.


I think the snow is beautiful and it does not bother me in the least. Unfortunately England does appear to come to a halt when it snows. They do not seem to have the infrastructure in place in order to handle poor weather and the traffic does get pretty bad.


But I can live with that... I say let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

And on another note I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Meg and Matt who today December 19th at 3:57am welcomed their little one into the World. Once she is back up and at 'em at home I am sure she will be blogging away about the experience and their new bundle of joy. Love to you guys! xx

High: 33°
Low: 32°
Forecast: Periods of Snow
Sunrise: 8:23 AM
Sunset: 3:51 PM

Waking up to find the snow on my car was not the nightmare, in fact that was the easiest part of the day. It was a very dry snow and brushed right off without any kind of problem.

The nightmare is referring to the shopping experience I had today. It was supposed to be easy. I needed to get some ink for my printer and a few other items. It took me 4 stores to find the ink for my new HP printer and have been assured that even though the other 3 stores didn't even have a place for it on the shelf it is not being discontinued...

Also while I was at Asda I could not find the butter. I walked up and down the refrigerated aisles at least 10 time each. It was so crowded, I couldn't find a worker and I had to text Andy asking him where it was and going as far as saying I was nearly in tears which was not a lie. He text me back letting me know it was along the back wall and not with the milk and cheese. Then while I was checking out my debit card wouldn't work! I informed the lady that it just worked when I bought my ink at the previous store and she said she didn't know what to tell me, we tried it three times. She said I was going to have to leave the items and try to get cash out at the ATM machine and come back to her line. For those of you in the States... here in England the debit cards have these chips on them and that is what is used to read the card not the swipe strip on the back. Anyway I rubbed this chip and asked that we try it again... thank goodness this time it worked!

Also I needed some gift boxes. My fellow Americans will know the ones I am talking about. They come in a package of say 3-5 different ones. The ones you can walk into any store such as Wal-Mart or Target and pick up. The ones that if you have something say like a shirt that you are not wanting to put in a bag. You all can see where this is going right? I went to Tesco and Asda and neither had these 'mythical' boxes. I eMailed Andy from my phone and sent a text to a friend who was at work and they both came back saying I needed to go to a card store such as below.


So in I went and yes they did have gift boxes but as you can see below not a very large collection of them. and in case you can not see the price that shirt sized is a whopping £2.75 for one! What the £%£"&*!? So I gave up and the gifts will end up in Christmas bags as those can be found in abundance. I would rather wrap them but oh well.


Now... as bad as my day had been it was about to get a lot better! I am working on a Secret Santa gift for work and I needed to get something bound and I knew in America I could go to Staples. So off I went to the one in Bolton.


Honestly my bad mood melted away as soon as I walked through the doors... I swear it was as if I was walking into America. The store looked exactly the same as one in America would look (unlike how you walk into Asda and it does not look anything the same). While I was getting the gift bound I had a good walk around. And I came across the best section of any store I have found over here...


Look at all of these Scotch products! Now if you click on the picture to make it larger you will see the prices are outrageous but this did not stop me in purchasing the yellow scotch tape dispenser and a refill pack of three.

Honestly I don't know what I liked so much about this store. It had to be just because of how bad of a day I was having. I absolutely love living in England and I wouldn't change anything about it for a second but I have never been more happy to be able to buy some really expensive scotch tape.

High: 32°
Low: 31°
Forecast: Periods of Snow
Sunrise: 8:23 AM
Sunset: 3:51 PM

I found our Christmas stockings in a drawer last night. I still come across things that were brought over in the move. We sold a lot of stuff before we left America and I forget what we have and what we don't have. So I was happy to find these and they are now hung above the fireplace.

We have been in our house a year now so today the landlord came over because he had to test the smoke detectors in the house. He also brought somebody around to build us a new gate for the back garden. The old gate did not close properly and it meant anybody could just come in and out. However I am sure even with the new gate if somebody wanted to get in the back garden they would just climb over the walls. I felt bad because it started to snow a little bit and it was bitter cold and the poor man was outside while building the gate. We got talking a little bit and I did find it funny when he asked me if I was Irish. Not been asked that before! It was also strange the way he took his coffee... black with a little bit of salt added. That is odd.

When Andy got home from work I had dinner ready as we were soon after heading out to Goodison for the Europa League match against FC BATE Borisov. We had already qualified for the knock out stages so we ended up fielding a very young team. It was like watching a reserve match but by us going to this game it gave us 15 Loyalty Points each on our Everton Customer numbers. The more Loyalty Points you have the earlier you are able to buy away match tickets so when it comes to us playing Liverpool FC at Anfield hopefully it is going to matches like this which will give us enough points to get a ticket.


If you look up at the area around the lights you can see that it started to lightly snow while we were there. To be honest the snow was the most exciting part of the match. Oh and we were c - o - l - d . . .

High: 35°
Low: 22°
Forecast: Periods of Snow
Sunrise: 8:22 AM
Sunset: 3:51 PM

I busted out our Christmas mugs today. Andy doesn't like hot drinks but will be using it for his milk to go with his cookies tonight.

I on the other hand have been using mine (on the right) all day for my yummy hot tea. Although I have not been outside of our house since Sunday it looks really cold out there. I do have to say that I was very excited when I saw Carey and Patty's Facebook status that said it was snowing... I know they are down south but I was hoping that it would somehow also happen for us up here in the Northwest. The forecast even called for possible snow (see below) but it was not meant to be and it only lightly rained.

I have faith however... it will snow before spring!

High: 36°
Low: 28°
Forecast: Periods of Snow and Rain
Sunrise: 8:21 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

After we ate dinner I made some delicious chocolate and caramel chip cookies and we played a couple board games.

I won the first game which was Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture however I do have to say it was a tight match. Andy always gets stuck on the same category which is 'Fads'. He blames him not being American since most of the fads that they ask about are from the 80's and 90's before he lived over there. However he did finally get all of the pies but I won before he had a chance to make it into the middle for his final question.

Then we pulled out the above game Scene It? which is one of my favorite games. However in the above picture you will see that there is a clear winner in the left circle... that is not me. Andy somehow pulled out a win and let me tell you he let me know about it. There was dancing around the room for a good few minutes. I tend to kick butt in movie games!

We also have Scene It? Friends Edition so maybe there will be a rematch soon!

High: 38°
Low: 27°
Forecast: Periods of Snow and Rain
Sunrise: 8:20 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

I wish it were socially acceptable to keep Christmas (aka Fairy) Lights up all year. I love the glow from them at night and how pretty they make everything look.

Andy and I decided again this year not to put up a tree. Honestly with three cats we find this to be more hassle than it is worth. We can not seem to get them to not climb up it and this normally results in the tree getting mangled and torn up within a few days of putting it up.

However this year I have decided that after Christmas when all of the sales are on I am going to find a nice tree and next year it will be going up. This again will probably result in a headache next year when we come home to find it knocked over or messed up but I missing having one so we will give it a try. Plus if I can pick one up on a good deal it wont seem that bad if it gets a bit messed up.

Of course I will not be following the tradition they seem to have over here that the decorations should only go up 12 days before Christmas and taken down 12 days after Christmas. When I was growing up we always decorated our tree on Thanksgiving. After we ate and relaxed for a little while the tree and decorations went up. Then we took them down sometime after New Years. The longer they can stay up the better.


High: 38°
Low: 37°
Forecast: Periods of Snow and Rain
Sunrise: 8:19 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

So I know I have complained about this before and I may have even already taken a photo of it but I have to bring this up again.

'If' a store was open 24 hours why would they need a sign displaying their hours? You're right... they wouldn't. But as you can see above Asda clearly states that they are 'Open 24 Hours' but if you look at the sign they close on Saturdays at 10:00pm and open back up Sunday morning at 11:00am and close again at 6:00pm not to open up again until Monday morning.

This drives me crazy.

I have somewhat got used to the stores closing in England so early... and when I say somewhat it means just that. I still complain about the lack of late night shopping and having to make sure you have everything by a certain time so that you are not caught out with no where to go buy it. But to clearly display a sign saying 'Open 24 Hours' and to clearly not be open 24 hours... this is just stupid.

How do they get away with this? Obviously my American self has a different concept of this term. When I ask others around me they give me some excuse about Sunday trading hours, etc... This means nothing to me. If you are not open 24 Hours then do not put a sign up saying that you are. End of. If there is some law that prevents them from being open for a full 24 hours a day 7 days a week then fair enough but do not post the above sign.

Now of course my friends and family know how much I miss them but even my Mom will understand when I say that other than them the one thing I miss the most about the States is Wal-Mart. One stop shopping at it's finest. I know that Wal-Mart now owns Asda but it is not the same and not even close.

If you need something in regards to your latest craft project, Wal-Mart. Need to buy groceries, Wal-Mart. Have a DIY project around the house, Wal-Mart. Do you need to get your oil changed in your car, new car battery, new tires, Wal-Mart can do that and while you are shopping.

Oh Wal-Mart how I miss you...

Rant over.

High: 37°
Low: 35°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 8:19 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

Andy got a little jealous that I had Chilli last Saturday when I went out with everybody from work so I promised him I would make some this weekend. The bonus is that I make a huge crock pot full and it lasts for a good three nights. Which means no cooking for me during that time... so yay!

High: 45°
Low: 32°
Forecast: Increasing Clouds
Sunrise: 8:18 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

Tonight was the night! After work Andy and I hurried home so that I could eat and get ready for Laura H to arrive so we could take the train into Manchester to see The Rocky Horror Show.

I did not go all out getting dressed up but I borrowed a pink feather boa from Rachel at work, I had on bright red lipstick and even had gold glitter on my eyes. This was going all out for me and I was quite proud that I took public transportation with all of this on.
Of course others did go all out.

Christian, Nicola and Helen

I would say Christian wins the award for dressing up out of our group. I believe his only complaint was that he didn't have any suspenders and his stockings kept falling down.

The show was excellent! I would challenge anybody to go see this and not have a good time, it would have to be impossible. We were in the Circle which was the first balcony and when everybody got up to do The Time Warp the floor was bouncing up and down. I was glad that they made these old buildings to last! Our Narrator was Dave Spikey (from Phoenix Nights) and he was very funny. As you can imagine there is a lot of banter between the cast and the audience at this show and he gave very quick and witty comebacks to the things that were being yelled at him.

I will leave you with one last picture... This is the gentleman that was sitting next Laura H and I. As you can see... his (uhmmmm) crotch area was lit up all night. I doubt it was Laura and I that he was trying to attract with the light however. At one point he sprayed this really horrible smelling perfume and he somehow managed to get it all over Laura's arm so she also got to smell as cheap as him. : )

... that I could stay in bed all day. But of course I can not, it is another day of work for me.

Today is my 12:00 - 8:00 shift but all I am going to be thinking about is 4:00pm tomorrow because that means it will be my last day for nine whole days... YAY!

High: 46°
Low: 42°
Forecast:
Sunrise: 8:17 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

This is the card Andy got from his co-workers... it made me laugh. They obviously know him very well. They also got him a gift card to Game so as you can see they know him very very well!

We went to see 2012 after work and then ordered Indian to take home. Yummy! We then watched Eastenders from last night and the finale of Project Runway. It was a great relaxing night and Andy has given the nod that it was a good birthday. Mission accomplished.


High: 43°
Low: 37°
Forecast: Partly Sunny
Sunrise: 8:16 AM
Sunset: 3:50 PM

What is this about?

This car was in front of us on our way home from work. I can't figure out why they have this fake license plate hanging up over the real one.

Andy says he thinks it is so that if they are speeding and get their picture taken by one of the many speed cameras it would not be able to send the ticket to them as their real plate is covered up.

Where is a cop when you need one?

High: 44°
Low: 40°
Forecast: A Little Rain
Sunrise: 8:13 AM
Sunset: 3:51 PM

We have a new window cling for our car.. how awesome is this?

My favorite part is that when you look in the rear view mirror it appears as normal so I can enjoy it also!

High: 45°
Low: 37°
Forecast: Occasional Rain and Drizzle
Sunrise: 8:12 AM
Sunset: 3:51 PM

A few days ago I won an auction on eBay for 150+ cross stitch magazines for £20. Since they would be so expensive to ship it was listed as pick up only. The lady selling them was in Blackpool which is about 28 miles away, so not that bad.

I talked Andy into going with me so that he could lift the plastic bin full of magazines the only trade off was that I had to drive... off we went. I am very pleased with the magazines! It will be a lot of fun to go through them all.

After we got back home we got ready to head off to Liverpool for the Everton match against Tottenham. Wow what a match! We went down 0-2 right after half time. With about 20 minutes left a lot of people started leaving.

I have a huge issue this! What kind of supporter can come to a match and then decide to leave with 20 minutes left to play? What kind of support is that? I find it ridiculous. There is a little old lady that sits in the front row of our section and every time we are down she comes up and complains to the steward that stands just behind me. She was having a right fit. Well she finally decided to go with 20 minutes to go.

Around 2 minutes after she left... Saha scored and the place went crazy. I think we have found our bad luck charm! As soon as she left we scored.

Then not too long after that Cahill scored again! I have been dying to see Cahill score at our end so that he could punch the corner flag in front of us. He does... and I was too busy screaming and jumping up and down to even watch.

Well then it got even crazier... in injury time the [idiotic] referee gave Tottenham a penalty. Well the crowd started chanting "USA USA USA" to pump up Tim Howard as he got ready to try to stop the kick. Did he stop it? Of course he did!

The place went crazy! Yes it was just a draw but I swear it felt like we just won the league. To come back after being 0-2 down and having so many people walking out and just giving up. I was so proud of the team to fight their way back and I am SO very happy that those jerks that left (including the complaining old lady) did not get to experience the last 20 minutes.

I swear if she complains to the steward behind me next time we are down I am going to turn around and tell her to go home because obviously when she does we start scoring!

High: 46°
Low: 45°
Forecast: Periods of Rain
Sunrise: 8:10 AM
Sunset: 3:52 PM

A friend from work, Laura C, gave me some corn kernels so that I could make some popcorn. Andy and I don't have a microwave and I have been craving it!

The first batch I made pepper popcorn (don't hate it is delicious) and the second go I made some caramel popcorn which was also great. This was the first time I have ever made popcorn on the stove top.

Tonight a bunch of us from work got together for a night of chilli and Cranium. It was a lot of fun and I didn't get home until 2:00am. Lots of laughs! Laura M forgot her UK version of Cranium so I had to bring my American version. It was fun playing it with a bunch of Brits. However I think it was used as a bit of an excuse to get a new card when something was unknown by the person picking it up... I heard "Either I'm daft or this is American" quite a lot. It was fun seeing one team trying to figure out which president's face is on the $50 bill though.

High: 42°
Low: 40°
Forecast: Cloudy
Sunrise: 8:09 AM
Sunset: 3:52 PM

Saw this on my way into work today... how cute is his little face?

I had to work from 8:30am to 8:00pm. It was a very long day but at least I got to wear jeans for all of it, that made it a bit easier

Tonight was the World Cup draw.. I knew something was up when my mobile started going off with text after text. I finally had a free minute and checked... Here is a sample of some of the messages

"Trust us to get USA"

"We will shi* on the USA. You got to come to the pub for that one"

So as I am sure you can tell... In the first round it will be England v USA. All I can say is...

I was noticing that I was starting to run low on quite a few of my DMC floss colors so I decided to buy some new ones to replenish the ones that were a bit low. No I did not spend .79 each because that is crazy money and Hobby 'Rip You Off' Craft is not getting me to fall for their little scam. I instead bought them online at the same place that I got my Charles Craft Aida and it was £12.40 for 40 colors. Bargain!

Now I just need to organize them and that takes a lot of time...

High: 41°
Low: 40°
Forecast: Rain
Sunrise: 8:06 AM
Sunset: 3:53 PM

It is official... Meg has opened the gift I made for her, Matt and their little bunny so I can also share photos that I took prior to posting it out to her.

I knew of Meg's love for all things Beatrix Potter so when I was thinking about what to make I was searching for anything Peter Rabbit. I also thought this would be fitting since they have called their little bundle of joy 'bunny' for as long as I can remember.

When I came across a pattern book that had twelve of the cutest patterns that also told a portion of the story I knew it would be perfect for a baby quilt.

I officially started cross stitching it on August 29th and have worked pretty much non-stop on it since then. Meg knew I was making something for her and I kept telling her she would have to keep her legs crossed until I was done as I wanted it to get to her before the little guy's arrival.

Well I made it in the nick of time as she is due next week. You can read what Meg and Matt thought about it here. But to let you in on the secret... they love it! Yay!

I am so glad they love it and it makes me happy to know it is going to be on display in bunny's nursery as a wall hanging.

Her blog about the quilt truly did make me cry. It is amazing how close we have become even though we have never met in person. Meg has quickly become one of my best friends and I am so thankful that even though we live 87 miles from each other we are only a text away. She is the reason for getting the larger texting package on my iPhone! I am so happy for Meg and Matt and their little guy is coming into this world with two great parents and into a home with a lot of love. And Meg I know you are reading this and I know your pregnancy hormones are going crazy so don't start crying... just know that if you ever need anything Andy and I are here for you guys!

Now to the pictures...

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As you can see I have blurred out bunny's name. Other than their family and myself (well I am an honorary aunt) the name is being kept a secret until his arrival.