I’m Back To Stay…Hopefully?

I haven’t been the best blogger – I know. Very sorry. I haven’t had a good long photo post in…well, too long. Life has been crazy (and continues to be. ) and I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write a good long post. I’m back again to make up for all that. =)

Want to start with some photos? Okay, good. In the fall I did our family’s school/family photos at Laurel Hill – the birthplace of Jeb Stuart. (Southern General of the Cavalry – amazing, funny, brilliant guy who did wonders for the CSA) Laurel Hill is absolutely gorgeous and we had a blast.















Notice the photo in the bottom right-hand corner just above? Well folks, that is my sister in the civil war dress I made – in a “Gone With the Wind – Literally” pose. =D I’m going to try to sell the dress, and I needed her to model it. Needless to say, we had some fun. =)


Ready for more words? Okay.
This week I’ve been doing double my normal work load – mostly in terms of homework. Because I’m taking my college classes online I have the ability to complete and turn in homework on my own schedule – and this week I did twice as much as required. Why? Well, next week has been designated sewing week. I’m entering the JoAnn Prom Dress contest again, and all of next week will be dedicated to planning, cutting, and sewing the dress! I am very excited because I will be designing a very special dress.

Hint: it’s a pretty girly color; has lots of flounces, beads, and tulle; and is celebrity inspired!
 (Hint #2: the celebrity may just be Carrie Underwood. ;)  )

Try to figure it out if you like. =D I don’t want to post a photo of my “inspiration” because I’m afraid my idea might be stolen. ;) But I will most surely post photos of the dress once it’s finished!
In other news – my reading stack is frighteningly tall. It’s actually taller than it is here in the photo.

Notice any common theme? Yep, you got it – the Civil War. *sheepish grin* I’ve been delving back into my novel, which means much reading and researching. And seriously – the biography I just finished about Jeb Stuart? Amazing. From start to finish. The author did the most amazing job portraying who Jeb was through his letters, battle reports, and other first hand accounts. (Bit of trivia: he called himself “The Knight of the Golden Spurs.” Research that one and tell me why that was. ;) )
In connection with my book – I’ve been going back and actually getting to know my characters. You can read my blog posts here about the subject. It’s been amazing, but I’m finding that much of my book will have to be re-written. I mean, come on – if you start writing a whole book before you really know your characters, of course you’ll have to re-write most of it! Not very cheerful. But I will be able to keep the structure of my scenes – it’s just the interaction that’s all wrong.
We spent our Valentine’s Day eating heart-shaped doughnuts and drinking coffee at Starbucks. ;)


So…has this post made up for my long absence? =D

My Wedding Dress…

…that’s not for me. =) No, I started sewing wedding dresses when I was fourteen for our county fair – there was a category for “formal dresses,” so I thought “why not sew a wedding dress? The only difference between it and a normal dress is extra fabric, some lining and maybe some more advanced sewing techniques.” So I sewed one -

 

 

(hand embroidery on the veil)

 

This year I am doing another dress…and here are my plans. I’ve already sewn about half of it…and am now working on beading it. =)

 

 

I’ll post photos of the finished dress when it’s done. I’m also attempting to sell my first wedding dress, and will be selling this next dress after October…so if anyone needs a wedding dress…

=)

Are 984 Photos Enough?

Well, I ended up taking almost 2,000 photos during our vacation and ended up deleting half of them. (Part of photography…snap twenty photos for the one perfect photo!) So here are 74 of my final 984 photos. ;)

In the car…

We had just arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The campsite provides wheelbarrows to cart our things down the long trail to our campsite.

I love the photo on the left…so silly. (Of course Jo had to help by carrying his little camp chair!)

Setting up camp! (And Micaiah acts cool)

Our two tents. The one on the right is an 8-man…pretty big! =) The photo on the right was taken at a place called Shately Springs…;)

We have a favorite Mexican restaurant that we go to…that’s where we were in the photo on the right. (It seems a little weird…two Mexican restaurants, three Japanese restaurants, and a Latin Cafe up in a little mountain town where there are only Southern people…)  =)

Another place we always go to is the Cheese Factory…that’s Jo with the giant mouse. =) On the right is the view you get upon leaving the parking lot…this is the path we trudge down to get to our camp site! =)

After the rain, who can resist getting photos of water droplets?

We spent one afternoon playing out in the field – Dad hit the balls, we caught them. =)

Ruth, Micaiah, and I ready to catch the ball! (photo courtesy of Maria!)

Dad showed Jo how to hold the bat.

Maria looking on as we played, and us going into town. =)

At our favorite coffee shop!

The coffee shop – and Lydia on her bike. We all got to ride around a nice little park. ;)

Micaiah with his bike and tire.

Jo, of course, got sleepy on another trip to Wal-Mart. =) The rather dramatic photo on the right is Micaiah and Dad trying the catch the ball I was pitching to them. (he he he)

Micaiah ready to catch the ball, and I guess I was pitching?

Another Beasley tradition (that’s also a general camping tradition!) is, of course, S’mores. Jo couldn’t get enough!

Maria learned how to string a fishing pole from Dad… =)

In the tent!

Dad tried some McDonald’s coffee…which is pretty amazing because my Dad roasts his own beans and we are kind of “coffee snobs.” =D

Maria fishing!

Micaiah cast aaaaaand….

…caught a bush! =D Maria took this photo of me on the right. =)

Micaiah had to rescue one of Maria’s flip flops…

I, of course, had to get into the water with my camera to get these shots. (Don’t ask me what Micaiah’s doing in the second one…I have no idea!)

My flip flops had to be rescued, too…and Micaiah fell down in the process! =D

I think the bug was a locust…we’d never seen one before!

And Micaiah catches a canoe. (No, just kidding…it just looks like that!)

I demonstrate to Ruth and Lydia how to cast.

Jo’s first fishing experience!

Splashing in the river.

And, finally, packing up to go home.

Hope you all enjoyed the photos! Don’t forget to take my survey on the right sidebar…I’m trying to collect people’s opinion of my blog…and I’d love to collect some followers, too! =)

Here’s a quick video of us fishing to end it all…