Heat flooded through me, stronger than before, but it was a new kind of heat—not a burning.
It was a glowing.
Everything inside me came undone as I stared at the tiny porcelain face of the half-vampire, half-human baby. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was—my love for the dead girl upstairs, my love for my father, my loyalty to my new pack, the love for my other brothers, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, myself—disconnected from me in that second—snip, snip, snip—and floated up into space.
I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was.
Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing—to the very center of the universe.
I could see that now—how the universe swirled around this one point. I'd never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but not it was plain.
The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood.
It was the baby girl in the blond vampire's arms that held me here now.
Renesmee.
–Jacob Black, Breaking Dawn, p. 360
One of the most interesting turn of events in Breaking Dawn is Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee. It was fun to represent in fabric. I did needle-turn appliqué, with a bit of embroidery for embellishment. I used Fairy Frost in Maize for Renesmee's locket and put a bit of gold blending filament in with the embroidery floss to give the chain and border in the locket a bit of shine. Jacob's paw print is, of course, russet and I used Jacob's font to add an embroidered quote from the book.
This quilt block is part of the Breaking Dawn Quilt for Charity I'm working on with the Twi-Quilters. With the release of part one of the Breaking Dawn movie, we're putting together a quilt with our favorite parts from the book and we're giving it away! One lucky fan will win this quilt. Here's how it works: we are donating all the materials and time to complete this quilt and for every $5 donation you make to Alex's Lemonade Stand or one other charity to be named shortly, you will be entered in a drawing to win our quilt. More details on this will be forthcoming. In the meantime, we'll be posting the progress of our quilt on the Twi-Quilters' blog.
Q. What do you call a Ford at the top of a Hill? A. A Miracle.
Q. What do you call two Fords at the top of a hill? A.A mirage.
Q.How do you make a Ford go faster downhill? A.Turn off the engine.
Q.Why are the latest Fords so aerodynamically designed? A.It improves the Chevy tow truck's fuel consumption.
Q.Why do they put sidewalks beside most streets and highways? A.So Ford owners have a safe place to walk home.
Q.What goes on the last page of every Ford user manual? A.The train & bus schedule.
Today, as you might have already guessed, we're going to debate Ford vs. Chevy, and you've probably deduced which side I'm on. I want to say, right off the bat, that this is all in good fun and everyone is entitled to an opinion, but bashing and flaming will not be tolerated and abusive comments will not be approved. So if you're here to vent your spleen, move along. These are not the droids people you're looking for.
Before we get into a heated debate over which car manufacturer dominates, let's do a quick re-cap of last week's discussion on travel destinations. I find it interesting that not one person who voted wanted to go to Egypt, Portugal or the Middle East. Obviously, I didn't/couldn't include every possible destination. I completely forgot Greece, Switzerland, New Zealand and Korea. And I kind of lumped several countries together; Great Britain encompasses England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland {I know this because LadyBug did a report in 2nd grade} and Scandinavia includes Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
Still, it was fun to hear where you all would like to venture off to. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment. I promised to share a couple of favorite comments. I should never do that. It is so hard to pick and I don't want anyone to feel left out. The comments were all great, but I thought I'd share two with you since I said I would. I loved what Annelise had to say: Since my mom is from Denmark, she took us kids back several times growing up. I have so many amazing memories from those trips. Feeding the ducks at the parks, bike rides, canoe trips and kite flying, walking to the candy store with my grandpa, the freezing cold beach, warm pastries from the local bakery... But its been 16 years since I was last there. I ache to go back. I so look forward to the day I can take my husband and my kids with me and share with them everything I love about Denmark.
And from my dad, A year ago, I went to Germany for business. In the city of Hamburg are 2 landmarks I will not forget. The first is a Church you can go up to the Bell tower and look out over the city at night and see the Ships in the harbor heading up the river and out to sea. The City all lit up, with the amusement park lights all aglow in the distance was very cool.
The second Landmark is another Church that stands a few blocks away. A bombed out Church that was not restored and stands as a Stark reminder to never let desire to take what others have, and that Power, Greed and the power of greed can blind an entire nation to the evil of what its leaders want and the horror they can bring upon a nation.
Thank you again, to everyone who commented! I loved reading them all! With thoughts of traveling to new places on our minds, it's time to talk mode of transportation. There might not be that much of a debate about this outside the US, but when we're talking American-made cars, there are two kinds of people: those who drive Chevys and those who don't drive Fords. Most people have an allegiance to one or the other, and it runs generations deep. I come from Chevy stock. My dad has an 1968 Impala that he drove for nearly 20 years. He plans on restoring it someday. In the meantime, he drives a cherry red 2009 Chevy Impala Super Sport. I heard that he might even take my mom on a little road trip to see Mt. Rushmore in it. Over the years, there have been many Chevys in our family. Between the '68 Impala and the '09 Impala, there was a Caprice Classic and in high school, my dad and I shared a 1978ish Camaro. The kids at work called it the car that used to be a Camaro. It wasn't pretty on the outside, but that V-8 had get-up and go. In college, I bought a little white Cavalier. I loved how comfortable the seats were. I'm pretty sure that someone in the family still drives it. And to keep the '09 Impala, which he only drives on weekends and special occasions, in mint condition, my dad drives a Lumina for every day kind of stuff.
The most memorable of the Chevrolets, however, was a 1965 Chevy II, also know as a Nova. My dad used to race in it. Straight from the late 1970's, I present to you the quarter-mile at Bonneville Raceway on 8mm. OK, so 10 minutes of home movies with no sound and about people you don't know is pretty boring. The Nova can be seen at time index 7:37-7:41 and again at 7:53-8:00.
Lest you think that I'm unfairly biased towards Chevrolets, I did once own a Ford. It was a Bronco II. At the time, Mr. Bug was doing fiber installations for a local internet company. It was dirty work and he didn't want to haul tools and equipment around in our then only 3-year old Honda. So he bought this old Bronco, trying to do the previous owners a favor, with the idea that he would drive it around to do his dirty work. Not soon thereafter, he was moved to the IT department for this company and he went back to driving the Honda. It turns out that the Bronco was really no fun at all the drive. The klutch was stiff, the brakes were iffy, the steering was barely negotiable, the seats were uncomfortable, it was noisy, smelly and just plain ugly. But rather than stay home all day with Baby Grasshopper, I'd take our lives into my hands, strap his car seat in the back of that Bronco and venture out in it every once in a while for free samples shopping at Costco or strolling at the mall. It was winter and the risk of life and limb to go some place different seemed worth it at the time. Needless to say, the Bronco was traded in after less than a year.
Now, I realize that this was only one out of I-don't-know-how-many Fords in the world, and perhaps not all Fords are created equally. But honestly, I've never met a Ford I liked. They just don't appeal to me, not even the Mustang. I'd choose a Corvette or a Camaro any day over a Mustang. So now that you know where my allegiance lies, let's get to it. I must ask . . . which would you drive? Ford or Chevy?
Marriage provides an ideal setting for overcoming any tendency to be selfish or self-centered. Don’t withhold those natural expressions of love. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often. That will make life far richer and more pleasant and purposeful. –Richard G. Scott
They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody? –Princess Diana
I have a fascination with words. I love it when a thought or idea is conveyed in a particularly concise, clever or witty way. About four years ago, I decided to compile enough thoughts into a little book to have one thought for every day of the year. And then I mass produced them, as I tend to do {see also: aprons}. I did several different covers and customized each one of them so that there was a special thought on the recipient's birthday. I made them for my sisters and sisters-in-law, for my mom and mother-in-law, aunts and special neighbors and friends as birthday gifts one year. I think I probably made about 30 of them.
When I hear a clever quote, I jot it down on one of half-a-dozen notebooks I have floating around. And if I can't find one of those, I scribble it out on the back of an envelope or the corner of any old paper lying around. I like to start each blog post with a thought. Sometimes I spend as much time searching for exactly the right thought to go with my post as I do actually writing the post. For Favourite Things Friday this week, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes from my thought book, some that I haven't shared before.
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
–J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Choose your words carefully, for they define who you are. –Unknown
While journeying east and west The only folks we really wound Are those we love the best. We flatter those we scarcely know, We please the fleeting guest, And deal full many a thoughtless blow To those who love us best. –Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Live is like an old-time rail journey – delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride. –Jenkins Lloyd Jones
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. –Albert Einstein
A change is as good as a rest. –My Cute Grandma Betty
If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. –Mary Engelbreit
The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile. –Plato
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. –Friedrich Nietzsche
That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that our ability to perform it has improved. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
Attitude is everything. Pick a good one. –Unknown
I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. –Gilda Radner
The fact is, life is hard – but that’s okay. If we learn to turn to the Lord, he can make our burdens light. Distinguishing between burdens (the stuff mortality throws at us) and baggage (the junk we elect to pick up on our own) can help ease our way. –Sheri L. Dew, If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn’t be Hard: And Other Reassuring Truths
And here's one more just for fun. I remembered this quote as I was eating left-over ravioli for lunch today: Those who forget the pasta are doomed to reheat it.
Do you have a favorite poem, verse, bit of prose, adage, maxim, quip, saying, one-liner, thought or quotable quote? I'd love for you to share it with me. I've got my little notebook and pencil handy, so I can write it down.
Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage. –Regina Nadelson
So, last week, we talked desserts. And I agree with every single one of you on the merits of your favorite dessert. I loved the results; it was interesting to see how desserts stacked up to each other. We have a family get-together soon and I'm bringing the dessert {for 45}. I've decided to make apple cobbler and serve it with vanilla ice cream. Using the poll results as an indicator, 15.3 people will like my dessert, which means that I get to bring lots of it home .
So, while we're talking indulgences, visiting foreign climes seems like an interesting topic. I'm not really well traveled. I've been to most of my neighboring states; California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. I've also been to Tijuana, Mexico and Orlando, Florida {not in the same trip, obviously} and I lived in two different states in north-eastern Brasil during a 16-month period. Oh, and I had a 12-hour layover in São Paulo, which is in the south of Brasil, on my way back home. I've only seen a few places, but I've seen enough to know that this is a beautiful planet and I want to see more of it. I have several landmarks on my bucket list of places to go; the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal and the Great Wall of China. I would love to spend a serious amount of time in Great Britian and France, Italy, Germany and Australia are huge on my list of places to see. And I'd really like to go back to Brasil. I would, of course, visit Fortaleza, the city I spent most of my time in while living there. But I'd also like to visit the capitol, Brasilia, and then see Rio, more of São Paulo and Falls do Iguaçu in Paraná. There are several historical sites here in the US that I'd like to visit and I'd just plain like to see more of my own country, historical or not. The Hershey Spa in Hershey, PA is at the top of that list.
How about you? I must ask . . . where would you like to travel? Tell me where you'd like to go and I'll pick a few favorites to share next week! Thanks for playing along!
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