We live not too far from Mt. Timpanogos and Mr. Live Well and our youngest decided to go with a group that were hiking the 19 miles round trip to get to the top. They left at 4:30 a.m. with lots of enthusiasm! However, they were so tired when they got home they could hardly wiggle. Our daughter has said she'll never do it again. But I'll wait a week to ask her after she's recovered.

It's so beautiful in the early morning and all the leaves are changing for the Fall. It's a stunning view. Maybe if I keep doing yoga and walking, I'll get strong enough to do it someday.

They were all smiles at the top!

I Have Some "Ta Da's"!!

In our group of friends that go away and quilt together, (nicknamed, "the ladies" by Ruth's daughter Aleena), whenever one of us finishes a project, we yell out that we have a 'Ta Da' and we all stop what we're doing and admire the others work. These are the Ta Da's that I did while I was gone this week on my trip. This apron was made from a pattern called the 'Lilly Apron' by Busy Bee Quilt Designs. I made it for a young girl in our church who had a wedding shower while I've been gone on my trip and I'll take it to her when I get home.

I made this little bag called 'Mimi's Bag' by Sorbe Girls Designs for a Christmas gift for a friend. It was pretty quick and easy and turned out a perfect size for carrying things back and forth to church or to use as a smaller diaper bag. There's a pocket inside for your cell phone and keys.

This is a very small, 17", table topper for my mom for her birthday. Shhh! I got the kit from Connecting Threads. It's great colors for her house and would look cute on a coffee table or under her dining room table as a centerpiece. I thought I'd make it again with other novelty fabrics, i.e. put a pumpkin in the center square for Fall and an ornament or something for Christmas. It was quick and easy and looks like I spent more time than I did. Great gift idea.

This quilt has been in the works for years. It's called Everyday Dishes and I have been stuck on it for quite some time. I decided after looking at it again (it's been in a bag on the shelf and hasn't been touched or seen), that I really don't like all the borders. So I'm going to change them before I begin to applique the flowers around the outside. I spent two entire days making circles and leaves for the border and haven't even made a dent in how many I need! This is going to require a couple of long winter days with a stack of good movies to finish!

Here's my pathetic little stack of two days effort!

This is Beth showing her Ta Da of Everyday Dishes. She got all the center of it put together. It's so beautiful. Of course, Nedra finished her's years ago. You'll have to ask her to show it to you on her blog because it is lovely and inspiring!

I've Finally Finished One!

I've been gone with my girlfriends all week quilting and I finally have one completed! I showed it to you on the design wall last week. This is a close up of one of the blocks.

This is a close up of the border. It's a little blurry, but it's better than the one I used the flash on. This is the fabric that started the whole quilt. I love it!!

It's stretched across the hotel bed and I love it! I even got the back sewn and ready for the quilter. There's nothing like the feeling of a completed project.

Nedra and Ruth did a little photo shoot with me on our trip and it was so fun. If you're even the tiniest bit like me, you can't stand to have your picture taken! However, they both tag teamed me and started taking pictures so fast I couldn't get all weird about it. Anyway, I added the one Nedra took as my new photo on my blog and then here's one that Ruth took. It's so hard to get a photo that you actually approve of that it feels exciting to have two!!

Nedra has been doing 'blog' training with me and I hope to do better in the future.

I am off on a trip with Nedra and our other quilting friends!! I wanted you to know about the weekly specials at Nature's Sunshine though while I'm gone. ALL of the products I've been telling you about are on sale this week! That means the Weight Loss, the Children's Vitamin line, the ionic minerals and more are all on sale. Go to www.naturessunshine.com and click on products, then at the drop down box, click on 'weekly specials' and you'll see all that is on sale. If you have questions about yourself and whether or not something will work for you, just e-mail me and I'll help you figure things out. You'll need my number as your sponsor to help you get the discounts at NS...it's #933807-9.

I am going to show you later today some of the fun projects I've been working on while on my trip.

Live well, Judi

Even more girl gang

I wanted to show you a couple of things I've been working on. This is a quilt that I started exactly 1 year ago and finally completed this week. It began at a Quilt Retreat up at Daniel's Summit and was a 'mystery' quilt, so I didn't know what it was going to grow up and be. (For the record, it was way too much work for what it grew up to be!) In any case, it's done except for the label.

This is what's on the design wall. Also, begun a long time ago. It's from a book called, "Dealer's Choice" and the pattern is "Texas Hold 'Em" and I think it's turning out pretty well. Our youngest Carissa, has a room done in pink and brown and this will look great at the foot of her bed. I bought all the fabric at a darling quilt store in Boulder, Nevada called, "Fiddlesticks".

Our daughter Caitlyn has a best friend, Lindsey who is having a baby boy later this Fall and this is the quilt that she wanted to make her. That's code for, "Mom will you make my friend a baby quilt?"

It's off to the quilter to be quilted and then I'll bind it next week when I get it back. Caitlyn's friend is like one of the family, so I don't mind at all making her a quilt. We're all excited to meet this little guy. The fabric is, "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon" and is cuter in 'real life' than in this photo.

What's for Dinner??

Almost everyday of my entire life, I get a phone call from a neighbor, friend, client, etc. asking me, "What's for Dinner"? People are always struggling with how to eat well and to feel good and not have to 'think' about it all the time. I personally have changed my diet and repented of all the bread and treats I was eating in the summer and have lost 9 lbs the last 3 weeks! I just might not have to change all the clothes in my closet to a bigger size. (currently, there are about 15 pairs of pants in there that don't fit!!) In any case, this is what we had for dinner last night and I eat something more or less similar every night...but would like to do a little more coaching in how to eat healthy as part of my blog. Also, I have been having great success with Nature's Sunshine weight loss program...you can use the entire kit or just buy the parts you like or need. I think it mostly depends on your ability to discipline yourself...you may need a lot of help or only enough to get you motivated. I can help you with that, if there are questions. This is a favorite salad and super easy. Almost everyday because the tomatoes and cucumbers are in abundance, I dice them and then add fresh basil out of the garden and a little olive oil or Italian dressing if you like. This time, I stuffed it in an avocado half and added a spout mix that is a favorite. I grow a mix called "pro vita mix" sprouts, you can buy them at Whole Foods or in bulk out of Hyrum, Utah and they are organic and super easy to grow and they taste awesome. They add lots of protein to a salad and are delightful.

Then we had fresh squash and beets for dinner, but I couldn't get the dumb photo to work, so couldn't show you. Also, somehow published a post without pushing the button earlier. Arghhh! Maybe I can't wait a week and a half to talk to Nedra! I make too many mistakes at this business of blogging!!

Fresh peaches were for dessert. Jared likes his with Agave (a natural sweetener from cactus plants) and whipping cream. I eat mine straight. Jared and his girlfriend, Kim went fishing Saturday night and caught lots of fresh trout, so we had that on the barbque and it was delicious. I'm not much of a meat eater, but he caught it for me, so I ate it and accepted the 'love' he was delivering! Enjoy and Live Well!

More Girl Gang

There's some serious training I need to get to figure out how to get these photos on my blog and then to type about each one. I seem to be having some serious setbacks in my learning curve! After much effort, I have finally added these three photos! Seriously, don't panic as I'm going on a trip with Nedra in a week and a half and she'll be able to sit with me and coach me on what I'm doing wrong that I can't get these photos on here like I should the first time. Anyway, this beauty is Flora's quilt (one of our fearless leaders) and it is so wonderful. I'm inspired by it!

Janice is our other fearless leader at Girl Gang and she has such an amazing gift for color. I love it when she's working and can coach me. I frankly do everything Janice tells me to! This is her "Favorite Things" quilt from our class this year. It's another beauty!

This is a quilt by Sandy in our group and she does the most lovely things. She quilts for Buggy Barn and makes up some of her own designs and always has great stuff to share. I can't believe I'm so privileged that they let me in. As I stated before, I'm a complete 'wanna be'. I figured if I hang out with talented women it will rub off!

Girl Gang for September

Tuesday was our Girl Gang meeting at Broadbents and we have new fun members this year to begin to quilt with. (They are not beginning quilters by any means, just new to our group.) Anyway, here are some of the fun quilts I took photos of at Show and Tell.

I think this quilt was done by Dianna in our group and she was taking a Block of the Month class at American Quilting in Orem. It's not quilted yet, but fantastic. I love the colors and her border fabric.

The applique quilt is called "Beginning Baltimore" and also by Dianna.

So many have asked me to help their children/themselves with ADD or ADHD and their struggles with their children. I was privileged to listen to Dr. Mark Hyman on the brain at my Convention last week. Please go to www.ultramind.com/webinars and you can listen for FREE to his 6 webinars on the brain. They are amazing and he has done some wonderful things with functional medicine. The new children's line of vitamins from Nature's Sunshine have added so many things to help these growing brains. I am using the new ionic minerals with acai with the vitamins on my clients along with additional omega 3 fats. (these brains need a lot more minerals and fat than the 'average' brain). I'm already getting such a good response from parents on how well it's working. Dr. Hyman will give you ideas on diet changes for your children/yourself if you want to begin the process. I love Dr. Hyman's comment that there is no such thing as a "Ritalin" deficiency and we need to feed the brain what it needs. Please contact me and leave your e-mail address if you'd like help with yourself or your children. I can now schedule an appt. over the phone/computer/in person if you live nearby (whichever works for you). I can send you a couple of tests you can take before your appt. and it's a very effective way of getting to the root of the problem. I look forward to helping many more! Live Well!

Boomerang

As you know, I attended the Nature's Sunshine Convention in Las Vegas. I hardly know where to begin to tell you all the wonderful things I learned. I spent 5 days studying children's health issues, the starving brain, diabetes issues, pregnancy issues, weight loss issues, endocrine system (hormone) issues and immune system issues. It was a complete blast. It's always fun to 'hang' with like minded people and to learn about how much science has advanced to help us be successful in maintaining great health no matter our age. Knowing that I could only tell you one thing a day, I decided (based on the news I listened to today about the increase of H1N1 and all of the ramifications to our health), I decided that I would share with you the "Boomerang". It is awesome. There is no other technology like it on the market. I wish I'd had it when my children were small and breathing the off gasing from the carpets and getting sick from going to nursery, etc. Now, I'll buy it to keep them healthy in college. Think of it...something that sanitizes the air and the surfaces! Unheard of. No more swine flu, MRSA, staph, mold, etc. etc. You can even watch it work as Nature's Sunshine has petri dishes that you can put in your house and 'catch' your germs before the Boomerang and then do it again after running the machine for a couple of days. You can see it at www.naturessunshine.com and if you want to know how to get it at cost, let me know and I'll help. I'm so excited for mine to arrive I can hardly sleep! Live Well!!