A new year.....and a new endeavor!

I realize I have gotten wwwwaaaaayyyyy behind on doing trip posts. We took an awesome trip to Ireland in 2022 and I still haven't gotten the photos edited. We were able to do a good bit of regional travel while posted in Germany and with two people with digital cameras plus phone photos it quickly gets to be a ton of pictures to work through. I was also working a lot and the picture editing/blogging just didn't get done. It's still on my to do list, I like to write about the trips we take and hopefully one day the kids can look back and remember the adventures we had (looking at you pasta making class in Venice, Italy!).

Besides our zipping around the world and meeting characters from other worlds, 2025 was a bit of an adventure. I was an alternate for a professional development fellowship (PDF) offered at Richard's work. I was notified at the end of 2024 that I someone had dropped out and I was selected. I needed to take all my courses before the end of June. I accepted and took three different quilt pattern writing courses. Two were directed at designing and writing and one was directed at color theory. I like my fabric color wheel I made for the color theory course.

Then in June, when I went for my mammogram, I was diagnosed with stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma (aka breast cancer). That really threw my plans for the year for a loop. I had surgery in July, about 6 weeks of recovery, and then completed 20 rounds of radiation. Luckily, it was caught early and I did not need to do chemotherapy. 

About a week and a half after I rang the end of treatment bell, I returned to post (Richard and Clarissa had to come back in August for work and school, but came and visited for fall break). I have to do imaging every six months starting this coming January. So I will be doing a good bit of travel back and forth from post to Florida for the next two to three years.

So this finally, leads to my post title! I had taken time off from work for the summer, which then got extended due to treatment (doing interviews with 7-9 hour time differences is not sustainable). I was a bit tired from the radiation treatment and am still getting used to the hormone therapy drug I will be taking for the next 5 years. Also, with twice yearly trips to the US for a while, I'm continuing my time off from work while I get used to everything. While I'm doing that, I'm using my PDF training and going to focus on quilt pattern design. I really enjoy it. I've posted three patterns already on my Etsy site. I recently started a webpage for my little business (Blue Sea Star Designs) and I am planning a monthly newsletter. I'm calling the newsletter Quilt-Love-Travel. Each newsletter will have a quilting/sewing tip, what I'm currently working on, and a travel tip. If you would like my newsletter to end up in your in box please sign up here! 

And with that, I bid 2025 farewell and look forward to smooth sailing in 2026!