Ups and downs this week

As the title suggests, I have had a lot of ups and downs this week.

I have worn glasses since I was about 8 and contacts since I was 13. I have been interested in Lasik for over 10 years. Now that I am finally in a financially stable position to afford it, I decided to take the plunge and scheduled my consultation exam!
I went in on Friday, and after going through all the tests, I was told that I was a good candidate for the procedure, except... there seems to be a small spot of congenital cataracts in the same place, symmetrically, in each of my eyes.
I thought that was kindof odd, since during all the years and years of eye exams I have had, nobody, not once, mentioned anything about cataracts to me. I talked to my mom, though, and she vaguely remembers something from when I was born that they mentioned it was possible. However, at the time, they were more concerned over the heart murmur from the hole in my heart since I was so premature.
So, I can't have Lasik, and I've been depressed all weekend because of it, since it is something I have been looking forward to for so long.

There, now that the depressing sad news is out of the way, I also had a good thing this weekend. I took (and passed) the first exam for a certification I am getting for the day job.
Yes, this first test is the easy one, and the next one will be much much harder, but that's just one more thing out of the way and passed. I have already started studying for this next test, and I have a feeling that studying will take up some (not all, of course) of my stitchy time.

Speaking of stitchy time, let's get back to the reason for my blog. Crafty updates!
I have been working on Candy Cane Christmas a lot more. I'm about 60% through it now, and done with page one!

Here is where I left off last:

And here is where I am now:

IHSW and a review

Earlier in the week, I really started wanting to start on the Sleepy Hollow project I have lined up. I made myself a rule, though, that I wouldn't start on it until I finished the Christmas project, since I don't want to have a ton of WIPs lying around.
So, I have been working on my Christmas project a lot, now.  Plus, it was also IHSW this weekend. Fortuitous!

Here is where I left off:

And here I am now:

I also wanted to add a review, as well.
I have started watching some cross stitch videos online, and I was introduced to Thread Heaven, a thread conditioner and protector.
I was interested in it, so I bought some online, and it came it this week. I haven't had much opportunity to use it, but I wanted to share my thoughts so far.
So far... I really like it! It smooths out the thread, and I don't seem to have as many tangles with it. I also have noticed (and I'm not sure if this is from the Thread Heaven or not) that my thread lays better, with better coverage.
Since I haven't had much chance to work with it, I will continue using it to assess if I still like it after heavier usage.

Do you guys use Thread Heaven? What are your thoughts on it?

99 Bottles - Beer #1

I actually have a couple different updates for today, but I wanted to keep my 99 updates separate.

I have officially started on the beer! Yay!
My husband, some friends, and I went out Friday night for dinner and drinks, so I decided to get started on the list of beers that I have. It took me a while to decide which one I wanted, so I got methodical and found out which beer was in spot 1A, found out that they had it available, and started with it.

The beer I went with was Blue Moon. Here are my thoughts on it.
The menu where we were described it as easy drinking. I liked that it came with an orange slice, as well.

What I liked: It really was an easy drinking beer. The orange slice gave it that extra oomph and set off the flavor just right.

What I didn't like: It actually needed that extra oomph from the orange slice, because otherwise I found it to be a little weak. The flavor was a little nondescript to me.

This would be a good "starter" beer for someone who hasn't had a lot of beer experience or for someone who doesn't care for beer much, because it does have a light flavor and isn't overpowering in any particular way. For me, personally, though, I prefer a little stronger beer.

Here is the picture of the bottle all stitched up, so lonely on the shelf by itself.

I never updated my progress counter!

I realized yesterday that I never updated my progress counter on the side for my Christmas project. I was missing over 3K stitches!
I have since updated it, so it looks much better for how much I have done. While I'm at it, I figure I'll go ahead and post an update from the last couple days. I haven't had much urge to work on the rocket, my Christmas project keeps calling.

Here is where I was a couple days ago:

And here I am now:

Update and a new start

I have a new start this week. I promised Justine that I would stitch along with her in April on the Cut Thru Rocket. This project was in my to-do pile, and I had already purchased the fabric for it. I only had to purchase a few colors of floss.
Now, I am nowhere nearly as fast as she is (plus she has gotten a head start on me), but here is where I am so far:

I would be further along, but shortly after I started this project, my Christmas one started yelling at me to be worked on, so I picked it up for a little bit.
Here is where I was when I left off last week:

 

Here is where I am now:

 

I also had the oddest occurrence when I was working on this one, especially since it had been yelling to be worked on. I got to this point, and all of a sudden, I just didn't want to work on it anymore. 

I ended up putting it away and pulling out the Rocket. I've never just hit a wall like that before, it was strange to me.

I have also started watching some YouTube videos of people's techniques and tricks for certain things. I have already incorporated a new technique (starting a new thread with a loop from the front of your project rather than the back) into my own stitching, and it has been pretty helpful.

Drumroll please!

I used a random number generator to determine who the winner of my giveaway will be. And the winner is..... Heather!

Congratulations, Heather! I will be sending you an email requesting your mailing address info and which item you would like!

Thanks to everyone who commented, and welcome to all my new followers!
I don't have any updates to post right now, since I just finished up the beer shelves, but I will be starting a new project this week! From the list of projects that I posted about from over a year ago, I am going to be starting the Cut Thru Rocket!

Nice to meet you!

I would like to first welcome all my new followers! I'm glad you have discovered me and like what you see enough to follow me for more updates!
I will be having my drawing on Sunday for the giveaway and will announce the winner!

This post is just a quick one to update on my beer project. I have started working on 99 by Ink Circles, and I have finished up the shelves. Woohoo! Now it's time for me to start sampling the beer!
I have added this to my project list along the side of the blog, and I will be counting each bottle completed as 1%. I figured I could count the shelves as the remaining 1% to get to 100% when all is said and done.
Here are my shelves!

I kinda draped it on the back of a chair for the picture, but rest assured that they are all the same width.