Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-

Linda, I used to quilt all my quilts by hand, but now I machine quilt almost exclusively. This quilt I sent out to be longarm quilted by a member of my quilt guild. She did a wonderful job! I was thrilled with her work and I love my quilt. The fabrics used were 1930's reproduction prints, some authentic vintage 30's fabrics, and some plaids, checks and polka dots thrown in for a good mix. The 30's prints are what I call brighter pastels - very happy fabrics. I'm glad you like the quilt. It gives me such pleasure twice a day - when I make the bed in the morning and when I pull back the covers to go to bed at night. Teresa

OOhhh Kat..another Toyota Tercel lover! My little 1983 silver bullet was the car I had coveted ever since they came out..when we bought it in 2001 it only had 80,000 actual miles on it! Then I got T-boned, and totalled the car. Thankfully, no one was injured (seat-belt bruises and broken thumbnail not counted) but I grieved over that car. Still a Toyota driver. My 1997 Camry gets over 30 mpg in town, and up to 36 on the freeway. Has to be called a mid-size, but I like it.

I love living in small towns. I'm from Iowa and have lived in several states and ended up back in Iowa due to the fact that my now-husband has a great job here. For the most part, I have found small towns to be great places to live if you: 1.) are accustomed to living in them; 2.) If you lived elsewhere, you'll be fine if you did your homework and research before moving, and 3.) accept that there are some tradeoffs to the freedom from big-city living. I personally find the biggest problems with small towns (as a young couple) are: 1.) Lack of 'things to do' if you can't make your own entertainment. 2.) Some folks can be very closed-minded and set in their ways about certain issues. 3.) There aren't always a lot of choices on things like cell phone providers, salons, vet clinics, physicians, school districts, etc. Also, be aware that religion is very important in many rural areas. Some towns are almost entirely one faith. For example, our area is predominantly Catholic. A town near where I grew up was almost entirely Christian Reformed and shunned other faiths, etc. In many areas EVERYONE goes to church on Sunday and the whole town may be closed down on Sunday. If you don't attend church regularly, you may find yourself looked upon with suspicion. From my experience, most 'small town folks' aren't rude or unfriendly, they just need to get to know you before accepting you outright. Many are suspicious of 'outsiders' or 'big city folks' and may look to you with the same types of stereotyped ideas as you may assign to them. I personally cannot stand living in cities, nor would I label Cheyenne as a 'small town!' The town I live in now is quite large by most standards around here and has about 10,000 people. I grew up in a town of 5,000 people. In spite of its problems, I love the rural areas. People are friendly, helpful, unhurried, and enjoy working with and on the land. Families are important and cherished, and I couldn't ever live anywhere I couldn't keep my horses at home or have a large yard for my dogs to run when we're all outdoors. Just do your research and know what you are getting into. Can you arrange to live in Cheyenne for a few weeks before committing to the move to see if you enjoy it?