One Week to Go!

We have one week to go until the 2012 Alpha Pregnancy Center Walk for Life event. I am so close to my goal of raising $500 for the center. Just $100 left to go! Thanks to everyone who has already given and been praying for this year's fundraiser.

This year, I volunteered to be a team leader, meaning I would try to recruit people to walk with me. So far, I have 6 people (and maybe a dog) walking with me! I'm really excited for the walk this year and just hoping and praying it all makes a difference to the families who need Alpha's services.

If you are interested in giving, here's an idea of how Alpha would use your gift:

• $5- Purchases one package of diapers given to a client
• $25 - Covers the cost of a pregnancy test and a session of pregnancy options counseling
• $75- Pays for one person to complete our Post Abortion Recovery Group (or another one of our 8 classes)
• $175 -- Allows one client to come on a monthly basis for a year to receive supplies and follow up care
• $500 -- Provides one year of in depth case management for a family; making sure they have housing, health care, employment, and child care
• $1200-- Saves an unborn child.  
   

Please pray for the walk: for the participants, the families visited, and the funds raised. This city needs this ministry and they need God's blessing and our help.

(if you are interested in giving, you can do so online here) 

We have one week to go until the 2012 Alpha Pregnancy Center Walk for Life event. I am so close to my goal of raising $500 for the center. Just $100 left to go! Thanks to everyone who has already given and been praying for this year's fundraiser.

This year, I volunteered to be a team leader, meaning I would try to recruit people to walk with me. So far, I have 6 people (and maybe a dog) walking with me! I'm really excited for the walk this year and just hoping and praying it all makes a difference to the families who need Alpha's services.

If you are interested in giving, here's an idea of how Alpha would use your gift:

• $5- Purchases one package of diapers given to a client
• $25 - Covers the cost of a pregnancy test and a session of pregnancy options counseling
• $75- Pays for one person to complete our Post Abortion Recovery Group (or another one of our 8 classes)
• $175 -- Allows one client to come on a monthly basis for a year to receive supplies and follow up care
• $500 -- Provides one year of in depth case management for a family; making sure they have housing, health care, employment, and child care
• $1200-- Saves an unborn child.  
   

Please pray for the walk: for the participants, the families visited, and the funds raised. This city needs this ministry and they need God's blessing and our help.

(if you are interested in giving, you can do so online here) 

Tumbler Quilt for Baby G

I had quite a bit of fabric left over from the first quilt I had made last spring so I decided to try to get another quilt done with the same fabric. I chose a different pattern (because no two babies should have the same quilt) that was a little less time intense but still looked really cute.  The pattern is called a Tumbler quilt, I found my inspiration here on Pinterest. I didn't buy the pattern, rather I watched a few online tutorials and then did it my own way!

I tried a few different methods but the one I ended up using to cut my material was really basic and simple to do. The first step was cutting out 5x5 squares. Then, using the grid on my self-healing mat, I cut of an angled 1" from each side to make the isosceles trapezoid (yeah, I had to look that up). See the image below:

Then I laid them all out trying to find the most appealing pattern. I should have kept that picture next to me the whole time I sewed it together; since each row is shaped differently it was important to keep it the same so it lined up in the end. (I know this now!)

Step three was stitching the pieces together to form rows, then sewing the rows together which went pretty fast.

And then came creating the back. I didn't have enough fabric of any one color so I pieced together 5" rows. I love how it turned out too. Almost as fun as the front!

I decided to "stitch in the ditch" for quilting the pieces together, meaning I sewed over the seems. Next time, I think  I might dare to do some sort of free-hand, it'll be a lot harder, but I think the end result would be really neat.

I forgot to write down the finished size, it's quite small, probably 20x30. Just big enough to play on until the baby starts really moving, the perhaps it'll be a lap quilt for story time!

I had quite a bit of fabric left over from the first quilt I had made last spring so I decided to try to get another quilt done with the same fabric. I chose a different pattern (because no two babies should have the same quilt) that was a little less time intense but still looked really cute.  The pattern is called a Tumbler quilt, I found my inspiration here on Pinterest. I didn't buy the pattern, rather I watched a few online tutorials and then did it my own way!

I tried a few different methods but the one I ended up using to cut my material was really basic and simple to do. The first step was cutting out 5x5 squares. Then, using the grid on my self-healing mat, I cut of an angled 1" from each side to make the isosceles trapezoid (yeah, I had to look that up). See the image below:

Then I laid them all out trying to find the most appealing pattern. I should have kept that picture next to me the whole time I sewed it together; since each row is shaped differently it was important to keep it the same so it lined up in the end. (I know this now!)

Step three was stitching the pieces together to form rows, then sewing the rows together which went pretty fast.

And then came creating the back. I didn't have enough fabric of any one color so I pieced together 5" rows. I love how it turned out too. Almost as fun as the front!

I decided to "stitch in the ditch" for quilting the pieces together, meaning I sewed over the seems. Next time, I think  I might dare to do some sort of free-hand, it'll be a lot harder, but I think the end result would be really neat.

I forgot to write down the finished size, it's quite small, probably 20x30. Just big enough to play on until the baby starts really moving, the perhaps it'll be a lap quilt for story time!

The Beauty of Florence

Florence was in a word, inspiring. To see the city where so many famous artists lived and worked was amazing. Michelangelo, Botticelli, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and many many others all spent time in Florence and have work displayed there. I'm hoping Chris will be a guest writer on my blog and share more about the Renaissance and how it impacted him while we were there.

For now, I'll share an experience:

As we were leaving our apartment on the morning after we arrived, I noticed it began to sprinkle. I asked Chris while was locking the door if we should grab our umbrellas. After a long pause, he relented and ran in to get them. We grabbed our bikes and were on our way. Navigating bike lanes without technology in a foreign city was a bit difficult, but Chris did fantastic with the map we had grabbed at the tourist information office the day before. After 20 minutes, we arrived at our destination. The Accademia, the home of Michelangelo's David!

We were prepared to stand in line for a while, but were blessed by the rain as there were only 15-20 standing in line in front of us! The line took no longer than 10 minutes and before we knew it we were there, standing in front of the 17-foot tall masterpiece. It took me by surprise; there at the end of a hallway, in pure white marble stood the David. The statue stood underneath a dome and perfect lighting made especially for it. It was breath-taking. 

We sat down for a while, listening to our audio guide tell us about the history and work of Michelangelo and after that, we just sat there in awed-silence. This truly was a masterpiece. And like all great things in life . . . photography was not allowed.  I had seen pictures of the statue many times before, and it looks like a statue. But in person, it is extraordinary. And when you compare it to the unfinished works of Michelangelo (known as "The Prisoners") just a few yards away, it looks even more impressive. This perfectly smooth statue was chiseled out of a block of marble. (I've never tried to chisel or carve anything other than a pumpkin and that never turned out well, so you can imagine how impressed I was by this.)

We truly enjoyed this morning, and it is one of our favorite experiences and memories of our trip. 

The Baptistry in front of the Duomo

The doors to the Baptistry, each panel depicting a bible story

 

A view of Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi museum. 

It was overcast and raining, but it's still beautiful

You can see more photos here!

How long we were there: 1 3/4 days

What we did/saw: Our first day there (after we got checked in and Chris got the bikes fixed, more on that another day) we rode to the city center and took a Rick Steve's audio guided walking tour of the city. We saw the outside of the Duomo, a Gothic cathedral with a very colorful facade; the baptistery with it's mosaic ceiling and famous bronze doors, and walked the pedestrian-only street to Ponte Vecchio (bridge) on the Arno River. We admired the statues outside the Uffizi museum, and the Palazzo Vecchio and got a feel for the city where the Renaissance movement started.

On day two we started out (in the rain) on our bikes to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, which was a highlight of the whole day. (Amazingly, we arrived 5 minutes after they opened and we waited in line for less than 10 minutes!) From there we walked our bikes while holding umbrellas in the rain to the Uffizi where we stood in line for 2 hours waiting to get in. Once we got in, we walked through each room taking in works of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. I started to get tired after and hour and half so we didn't stay much longer than that. But it was raining outside so it was really the best place to be!

What we ate: We had both our worst meal and our best meal in Florence. The first meal we had in Florence was at a little shop down the street from our apartment. They had patio seating and looked kind of cute/local. After we ordered, we realized they were microwaving frozen meals! (AH!) Thankfully, it was cheap. Dinner was difficult to find since the restaurants seemed to close before 8 p.m., thankfully we found a place and enjoyed pastas and wine. (I had a spinach gnocchi, Chris had a mushroom sauce with a wide noodle which I forgot the name of.) We also split a tiramisu for dessert.

Our lunch the next day was amazing. We waited to eat until we finished the Uffizi, meaning most places were actually closed until dinner. We did stumble upon a Russian-Italian place that looked great. We took our time eating and enjoyed every bite of our food. I ordered a pasta with eggplant red sauce and Chris ordered a pasta with a creamy meat sauce. Then we split an entree of rabbit with a vinaigrette sauce. It was so amazing (and we stuffed ourselves silly). This was one of the best meals we had.

Where we stayed: We had our own room and shared bathroom and kitchen at a bed and breakfast. There were multiple rooms and guests staying there so it was a lot different from our previous stop. It was a very causal environment and pretty comfortable. They had bikes available for rent as well which we took full advantage of. Our host was nice enough, we did have to wait 2 hours to get our room as another couple was checking out and when we went to look at the bikes we saw that they needed tune-ups before we could use them. Thankfully, I married a handy-man!

How we got around: We had taken a train from Rome to Florence and then took a bus from the station to our bed and breakfast and then back again when it was time to go. We biked everywhere else!

Florence was in a word, inspiring. To see the city where so many famous artists lived and worked was amazing. Michelangelo, Botticelli, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and many many others all spent time in Florence and have work displayed there. I'm hoping Chris will be a guest writer on my blog and share more about the Renaissance and how it impacted him while we were there.

For now, I'll share an experience:

As we were leaving our apartment on the morning after we arrived, I noticed it began to sprinkle. I asked Chris while was locking the door if we should grab our umbrellas. After a long pause, he relented and ran in to get them. We grabbed our bikes and were on our way. Navigating bike lanes without technology in a foreign city was a bit difficult, but Chris did fantastic with the map we had grabbed at the tourist information office the day before. After 20 minutes, we arrived at our destination. The Accademia, the home of Michelangelo's David!

We were prepared to stand in line for a while, but were blessed by the rain as there were only 15-20 standing in line in front of us! The line took no longer than 10 minutes and before we knew it we were there, standing in front of the 17-foot tall masterpiece. It took me by surprise; there at the end of a hallway, in pure white marble stood the David. The statue stood underneath a dome and perfect lighting made especially for it. It was breath-taking. 

We sat down for a while, listening to our audio guide tell us about the history and work of Michelangelo and after that, we just sat there in awed-silence. This truly was a masterpiece. And like all great things in life . . . photography was not allowed.  I had seen pictures of the statue many times before, and it looks like a statue. But in person, it is extraordinary. And when you compare it to the unfinished works of Michelangelo (known as "The Prisoners") just a few yards away, it looks even more impressive. This perfectly smooth statue was chiseled out of a block of marble. (I've never tried to chisel or carve anything other than a pumpkin and that never turned out well, so you can imagine how impressed I was by this.)

We truly enjoyed this morning, and it is one of our favorite experiences and memories of our trip. 

The Baptistry in front of the Duomo

The doors to the Baptistry, each panel depicting a bible story

 

A view of Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi museum. 

It was overcast and raining, but it's still beautiful

You can see more photos here!

How long we were there: 1 3/4 days

What we did/saw: Our first day there (after we got checked in and Chris got the bikes fixed, more on that another day) we rode to the city center and took a Rick Steve's audio guided walking tour of the city. We saw the outside of the Duomo, a Gothic cathedral with a very colorful facade; the baptistery with it's mosaic ceiling and famous bronze doors, and walked the pedestrian-only street to Ponte Vecchio (bridge) on the Arno River. We admired the statues outside the Uffizi museum, and the Palazzo Vecchio and got a feel for the city where the Renaissance movement started.

On day two we started out (in the rain) on our bikes to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, which was a highlight of the whole day. (Amazingly, we arrived 5 minutes after they opened and we waited in line for less than 10 minutes!) From there we walked our bikes while holding umbrellas in the rain to the Uffizi where we stood in line for 2 hours waiting to get in. Once we got in, we walked through each room taking in works of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. I started to get tired after and hour and half so we didn't stay much longer than that. But it was raining outside so it was really the best place to be!

What we ate: We had both our worst meal and our best meal in Florence. The first meal we had in Florence was at a little shop down the street from our apartment. They had patio seating and looked kind of cute/local. After we ordered, we realized they were microwaving frozen meals! (AH!) Thankfully, it was cheap. Dinner was difficult to find since the restaurants seemed to close before 8 p.m., thankfully we found a place and enjoyed pastas and wine. (I had a spinach gnocchi, Chris had a mushroom sauce with a wide noodle which I forgot the name of.) We also split a tiramisu for dessert.

Our lunch the next day was amazing. We waited to eat until we finished the Uffizi, meaning most places were actually closed until dinner. We did stumble upon a Russian-Italian place that looked great. We took our time eating and enjoyed every bite of our food. I ordered a pasta with eggplant red sauce and Chris ordered a pasta with a creamy meat sauce. Then we split an entree of rabbit with a vinaigrette sauce. It was so amazing (and we stuffed ourselves silly). This was one of the best meals we had.

Where we stayed: We had our own room and shared bathroom and kitchen at a bed and breakfast. There were multiple rooms and guests staying there so it was a lot different from our previous stop. It was a very causal environment and pretty comfortable. They had bikes available for rent as well which we took full advantage of. Our host was nice enough, we did have to wait 2 hours to get our room as another couple was checking out and when we went to look at the bikes we saw that they needed tune-ups before we could use them. Thankfully, I married a handy-man!

How we got around: We had taken a train from Rome to Florence and then took a bus from the station to our bed and breakfast and then back again when it was time to go. We biked everywhere else!