I must confess...

I am addicted to the Twilight book series!!

Yes ... I'm a 28 year old grown woman who has been making secret trips to the "Teen Loft" at the Evanston Public Library to scour the shelves for the next book in the teen vampire drama series Twilight.

I can't put them down! I read over my lunch break ... at night .. the weekends ... any spare time I have! I got New Moon (book #2) last week Wednesday and finished the 500 plus page book by Sunday morning. It was so bad that on our drive home from Milwaukee last Saturday night I was reading by the light of my cell phone.

They are just so fantastic though! Full of action, romance, passion, friendship, heartache. I think the best part is that each book tells you part of a story, but not enough to tell you the whole story so that you absolutely must go out the next day and get the next book.

Teen story or not, this adult is now well on her way to finishing Eclipse, quite possibly by the end of the weekend :)

Until next time ...

The girl behind the Lama

~LMM

I'm being featured!!

I have an interview featured today by Hazelnut Cove! You should check it out at: http://hazelnutcove.com

Thanks!
~LMM

Carry On Campaign

Adversity is a lot easier to face when we know we don't have to face it alone. If nothing else, the Concert For Life series has shown cancer fighters that they aren't alone. Everyone knows someone who has or has had cancer. The crusade for a cure is being fought by both cancer patients and their loved ones. The Carry On Campaign encourages all of us to make the fight against cancer a year-round focus by taking the mission and message of the CFL and applying it to the other 364 days out of the year.

If cancer refuses to quit, then so should we -- in both our effort to walk with those who fight the disease and in our pursuit for a cure.

"And the fight may be uncertain. And for sure it will be hard. But we'll stand up strong and carry on. Today is the day!" (If We Walk)

For more information on the Carry On Campaign and to listen to If We Walk check out http://www.mattwesselmusic.com/

I am so done with technology ...

You want to hear a story about my last 30 minutes???

I just tried to print a report at work … and I hit the wrong button …

It printed from the scrap paper drawer ...

So I went to photocopy it onto clean paper and without me asking it to ….

It printed from the scrap paper drawer.

So I finally got a messy looking copy on regular paper, but I needed one page in color.

So I reprinted the one page on the color printer…

It printed all red – it’s out of blue ink.

Someone int he office either used up all of the colored ink last week and A) didn’t replace the ink … or B) didn't buy new ink.

I found new ink in the drawer so I replace it and reprinted. …

It only printed in black and white … it was a recycled cartridge that had apparently dried out.

So now I still need to print one page in color … and we have no color ink …

Sigh .... Can I go home now?

Business Update

I know it's a little late in the year, but now that I'm back to focusing on the store I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my sales goals for this year.

I've been officially open for 8 months now and have had 30 sales (YAY!) So my goal from now until September is to have another 22 sales so I can reach 52 sales in 52 weeks. That's about 4-5 sales a month from now until then.

My other goal was to raise $100 for the American Cancer Society by next March and I'm happy to report that I'm already at $29.24!!

Thanks to all who have helped me reach where I'm at today!

Until the next time,
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

How's it going??

Lots going on these days! My husband officially finishes law school next week and graduates 3 weeks from tomorrow - YAY!!! So what's next for us??? We're not quite sure yet, but it does look like we are putting our house up on the market, hopefully within the next week or two! He does have a job offer, but it's not anywhere near our lovely home in Evanston. He won't officially be licensed until this fall so the plan is to keep looking for a job here, but also to try and sell the house in case we decide that we want to move to Quincy. So there's been a lot of cleaning and staging going on in our house these days.

It's given me a great opportunity to organize all of my crafting supplies which I think I do every few months it seems. I'll post pictures when I'm completely organized :)

Vacation is also coming up in just a few weeks. After graduation we are going to Lake Geneva for a few days to celebrate not only the end of school in our lives, but also our 1st wedding anniversary! Can you believe it's already been one year?? This week I was packing up an order of bud vases for a bride and thinking about the headache I had from making my own just a year ago. It's much easier to make them now, especially when I know that someone is paying for them.

I'm also hoping to get out in my garden if it ever stops raining!! I am so excited to see all of my spring flowers happy and blooming! I just noticed the purple tulips are up - sniff, sniff - flowers we had at our wedding. All of the hydrangeas are out now too, which yes, also gets me weepy and thinking about our wedding day.

So it's been a good spring thus far! New adventures on the horizon!!

Until the next time...
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Carry On - Results from 2 weeks

It's been about 2 weeks since I decided to start the Carry On Campaign and donate a portion of my sales to the American Cancer Society. I've had 2 sales since then so the grand total of my donation as of today is:

$9.61

It seem like I'm well on my way! I have another bud vase order that will go into this in the next week or two and another possible bud vase order on the horizon so yay!! I have had a great response from members of the Woman's Club and I have a few orders pending there as well.

I'm back into the groove of working on projects so as soon as I have some time to take pictures I should have a lot more coming into the store! My mom and I took a few card classes when she was in town last weekend so expect more stationary coming soon - some very cute spring cards! I know I have at least 2 hats, 2 pairs of mittens, 2 scarves and 2 pairs of socks that are just ready and waiting to have their pictures taken. Reading that I feel a bit like Noah ...

So stay tuned! I'll try to keep you posted on new items as they get up there! New life decisions are on the way as well as my husband finishes up law school and takes the leap in to the working world. More on that as it happens!

Until the next time...
the girl behind the lama
~LMM

Spring Scavenger Hunt!!

Who doesn't love to win contests!! Today marks the beginning of the EtsyKnitters Team Spring Scavenger Hunt!

We have a total of 31 Etsy shops participating, each offering a variety of discounts in their stores!

The hunt clues on the official Hunt page are well worth viewing. It's a great team full of wonderful knitters that I'm proud to be part of.

Here are the Spring Scavenger Hunt official rules:
Find any 10 items in the EtsyKnitters’ stores, using the gallery of photo clues we’ve provided.

Send us the 10 item numbers matched with the Etsy store where you found them, using our easy online Entry Form.

You’ll get the “magic word” back by email!

Use that magic word with any order you place with these participating EtsyKnitters, and voila!

31 stores = 31 great deals!!

The Spring Scavenger Hunt promotion begins today, Friday April 3. Deadline for entries is Sunday, April 12.

Your special discounts will be good for shopping throughout the Hunt, plus an additional week – until April 19. Click here for complete details.

Game on! Let me know if you win!!

Until the next time ...

The girl behind the lama

~LMM

New Spring Leaves Hat!

While I continue my obsession with all yarn from KnitPicks, I just tried out their Superwash Merino Wool in the Bulky variety and definitely am not disappointed. I had the most trouble actually picking out a pattern I wanted to use that would show this beautiful yarn! I finally settled on a leaf pattern. Love the pattern, love the yarn!






I've got some matching scarves and mittens in the works as well, but I can't seem to settle on a design that I like, so more to come on that!


What do you think??

Until next time ...
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Carry On Campaign

No matter who we are, what we do, where we live or who we know, we are all going to face challenges in our life. It is during those difficult times that we are challenged to carry on -- to continue fighting the fight with the hope that things will continue to get better.

We're also going to face times in our life when making the extra effort to make the world a better place just seems like too much -- times when it seems easier to just say, "Well, someone else will do it."

The Carry On Campaign encourages all of us to make the fight against cancer a year-round effort, to continue to make the world a better place and to continue to strive to overcome the daily obstacles we face in our own lives.

"I may be weak, but I'm still strong. The love of God helps me carry on today. I may be scared, but I'll go on. My love for life helps me carry on today" (God's Chosen One)

For more information and to listen to God's Chosen One please go to http://www.mattwesselmusic.com/