So I know we all have busy lives and it is often hard to find the me time...but do any of you have a hobby? Or do you have one you wish you could do?

L does glass cutting to make stained glass things but it has been years since she has done anything at one time she was making window stuff and lamp shades it is said that it has fallen to the waste side.

I really love yard work but I am cutting back this year so my yard work will consist of just maintaining what we have already.

BUT

I am really thinking of getting into this sewing thing. I want to make some dresses for the summer and maybe even a baby carrier or two. I would like to try and sell some of the work to help generate some income here. Today I am going to go buy a pattern, fabric and all that good stuff so I can make my first thing and share it with everyone.

Tell me about your hobbies!

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K, I think it's a great idea for you to sell some of the things you sew. I'm always looking for handmade things to buy so I'm eager to see what you come up with.

Well before the kid(s) came along I used to love reading. I would buy a book and I found it hard to put it down before bedtime so I quit reading at night and read when I had time during the weekend and etc.... But now I've gotten into scrapbooking. I started a scrapbook on Mia and I'm going to start one on Valerie to. I just love all the options that are out there but I still got a lot to learn.

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I'm an outdorrs person. I love to fish, hike and camp. I would fish every weekend if I could. I even have taken zach and cass with me a few times last summer. It has warmed up here enough that the lakes for the most part are no longer frozen so time to pull out that fishing pole and go relax by the lake. I also like to garden but we can't mauch of that here.

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ttc #2 FET in June

DH and I love to garden. We have a very small 45'x4' raised bed in our back yard that we have completely overfilled with vegetables, seeds and flowers. We are out there every day pickin' and prunin' and making sure everything is watered well, etc. It's been great fun showing Avery all about growing things and I can't wait to eat the fruit of our labors!

I am a voracious reader. I didn't get to read much at all when I had Lilly but I have started back up now. Years ago I did cross-stitch like crazy. I've done a ton of things with that. But, once I had my first baby that went by the way side. Hard to do tiny stitches with needles and tons of threads with babies/toddlers around!

I'm also a pianist so I try to get some of that in too! It's also hard to do when you have little fingers around that always want to play when you do.

Jenn, we love fishing and camping too. We are going to the mountains to do just that for Art's vacation in May. We were going to go to Disneyland but that will have to wait until next year. I'm excited about going and doing actual "camping" this year. We don't have our motor home anymore so this should be a real adventure! I hope the bears don't get us!


~m

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I am so jealous of all you readers, I go through phases. I mostly read in the summer because I love some good smut when I am sitting in the nice fresh air just relaxing.

Jenn, We love the outdoors too. We go fishing alot in the summer and this past year did some camping which was alot of fun thunderstorms and all.

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Well, I really have to say that this is my real true guilty pleasure, spending online time with you girls!

As a family, we camp like crazy! Last fall we bought a 29' pull behind camper and we fish alot too.
When we camp I love to read. Usually movies I really like that are from books, like Memoirs of a gesha.

I love to cross stich, sew and knit. Anything to keep my hands buisy. I spent my pregnancy with Kirsten, crocheting a afgan for baptism and then cross stiching a winnie the pooh design on it. So pretty only to be used for 1 hour!

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Marian - Want to talk about bears. I use to live in an apartment complex that you'd be headed to the mail boxes and your neighbor would be like careful the bear is head to the mail box to. No joke. We had a bear that just wondered the complex everyday.

We only tent camp and I take the shot gun w/ me when I go as a just in case. A few years agp we had a mountain lion wondering our camp at night. We camp where ever we feel like up in the mountians along the stream no camp grounds for us here.

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ttc #2 FET in June

I used to be a voracious reader. But, I find that I'm semi-addicted to it. So, I go through phases when I don't let myself read because I'm trying to get other stuff done. I also find that when I'm reading a lot for work (I'm working on my PhD) I have less interest in reading for pleasure.

I've also done a lot of elaborate cross-stitching. But, like others, I've done less of it in the last few years. I did do a large custom job for a friend that she purchased in the church Auction a couple of years ago. But, if I were to think of the "cost" on a per hour basis, I'm sure it was less than a dollar per hour of work.

I enjoy running and ran a half-marathon 4 years ago. But, I've never been able to run through the heat of summer, so, I have to build up distance again every year. This year, because of our IVF attempt I wasn't allowed to run during my best running time. But, we've been playing dodgeball all year--they actually have dodgeball leagues for adults! My DW is helping to facilitate a pilgrimage this summer and is planning a bunch of weekly wilderness hikes to build endurance that should start soon.

I also play with my dog and cat and hang out on the internet on a daily basis.