knitting and other stuff in LA!

UFOS FINALLY FOs!!!!

2012-01-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

I have been missing from blogland because I had to hunker down and finish my masters degree. I love crafting so much that the only way for me to focus on studying was to completely take a hiatus from crafting. So, my last post here was on 8/31/2011. I spent all of September through the beginning of December studying. I am happy to report that after 3 and a half years, I FINALLY FINISHED MY MASTERS DEGREE! Yeah! I am so happy and so relieved. Now can finally get back to crafting. Though since I have an almost 3 year old boy, there is still not a lot of crafting going on, I must say. But, I manage to get a some things done, while he is sleeping usually. Here is my first FO of 2012:

Its a little wall hanging for my cubicle at work. I want to create some wall quilts for my work space and this is the first one so far. I also wanted to practice paper piecing so this little quilt fit the bill. It has been completed at this point but I forgot to bring it in to hang in my cubicle. Tomorrow I guess....

I am now working on my jelly roll race quilt and that will be my next FO for this year I hope. A friend is due with a baby boy and I have the fabric already for her quilt. I just need to come up with an easy, quick design for her quilt. I am thinking of doing the tube quilting pattern like this:

Or an easy chevron pattern like this

Here

I am leaning toward the zig zag......Gotta make up my mind quickly since the shower is just around the corner and I so want to finally give someone a completed quilt at the shower! Wish me luck!

Check out many other WIPS and FO's over at Freshly Pieced. Its WIP Wednesday!

Progress Without Posting

2011-08-28T23:26:00.000-07:00

I have been away from the blog lately. I have been busy with studying and family as usual. I had been quilting and have some progress to report. First, a full view of Happy in Cali:

This is not a great shot but its the best I can do with my camera. I really love this quilt!
This has been finished for a while but I just kept trying to get a better picture. Oh well...

Next up is this baby quilt that I finished in July. Again, took forever to get it photographed! Its not perfect but its so soft and cuddly. The fabrics are all flannel and that makes it so nice for babies. I originally started out making this for a friend but did not get it done in time to give to her, plus the sashing is so uneven. I am not sure what I will be doing with this one. I really do still love this one so much as well.

So, after this one was done, I could not find time to quilt. When I did have time I was just too tired. So, I did not work on anything for weeks. Until I decided to go ahead and cut fabric for the next baby quilt.This time it would be pink for a baby girl recently born. I decided to try out the 10-minute blocks. I already had the fabric so I ran out and got the book. Now I have mentioned before that my crafting only happens when my little guy is sleeping. So I guess it was about 11 PM when I sat down to cut this fabric. I put a brand new, very sharp blade in my rotary cutter and for some reason I put it down and went to do something else. I came back and picked up the rotary cutter to get started. Well, guess what happened? I did not have it in safe mode and you guessed it, I dropped the cutter! The blade made a clean 1.5 inch cut in my leg and necessitated a trip to the ER. I ended up getting 3 staples. I was mocked by everyone in the ER when I told them that this was a quilting accident!

After that, I was hesitant to quilt late at night. So, it took me a while to jump in again to get the quilt below going. But since I used the 10 minute blocks it did not take long!

I am planning to add a thin white border and then another 3 inch border in a pink polka dot print. Then on to the quilting. I will likely do a solid pink backing or maybe brown. We shall see!

So, that's my progress so far! I still have to put one more border on my red, black and white quilt. I am thinking of calling it Newspaper....because of that very old, very bad joke.

For now, no more late night quilting! And, I had the good since to invest in a rotary cutter that is always in safe mode when not in use. Thank goodness for Joann's coupons!

Finally, just tad bit of cuteness!

Join the fun over at Freshley Pieced to see what many talented folks are up to.

Farmer's Wife Friday!

2011-07-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I have jumped into the fray of the farmers wife craze! Check out my first two blocks:

The basket weave block came out a bit wonky. Both are paper pieced. I am planning to paper piece all of the blocks. This is my first time paper piecing and I like it so far!

The Long Beach Quilt Festival is happening now and I took the day off work to go down to enjoy my first ever quilt show. I got a few fun items and saw some beautiful quilts.

This one was made by a seven year old girl with ad/hd. She is a part of the only childrens quilting guild in soCal.

This one was made by a 12 year old boy from the same guild:

Just amazing. I really really enjoyed the show. The market place was sooooo crowded. I got to try out the Elna 720 and viewed some Janomes as well. I confirmed with the Janome guy that my kenmore is indeed a Janome! I ordered some feet for my Kenmore machine and they arrived in a Janome box, so that was my first clue.

I loved the elna and I plan to save toward an upgrade for about a year and hopefully, when the show rolls around next year I will be able to purchase a dream machine at the show. They have great deals!

Thats all for now. I will be back for WIP Wednesday next week, I hope!

A Finish on WIP Wednesday!

2011-07-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

Happy in Cali is done! Unfortunately, its late and the pics did not come out well so I will post a pic of the full piece when I get some outdoor shots of it. In the meantime, check out the quilting and the binding:

At first, as I was making the binding, I was thinking that I had made the wrong choice. But when I started stitching it on with my walking foot, I knew I had a winner. I really love this quilt. Its backed with yellow flannel. I really like the way flannel feels on skin so I choose it more often than not to back my quilts. I usually stock up on it at Joann's on Black Friday because its always on sale then. : )

I quilted the entire thing myself. I decided to free hand some flowers in the borders. I heard an interview over on Craftsanity and the artist was speaking about how doodling helped her come up with some of her fabulous embroidery designs. I also reviewed some videos on free motion quilting and they talked a lot about practicing by drawing out the design on paper so that your brain can get used to what you want your hands to do. Well, I have been doodling this same flower since I was in elementary school so my figured my brain should be pretty familiar with it by now, since I am now over 40! I made some booboos but I am overall very pleased with my first attempt. I am so happy I dove in because now I feel energized to finish my other projects!

And go on over to Freshly Pieced to check out some more fabulous work from the WIP Wednesday Participants!:

Works In Progress Wednesday!

2011-07-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got up the courage to start quilting Happy in Cali!. I was hesitant because I am a fairly new quilter and have only attempted straight line quilting with my walking foot as well as crazy quilting with the decorative stitches on my machine. I was going to simply grid quilt this one and at the last minute I decided that I had to try it at some point. Happy in Cali is for me so it really does not have to be perfect, as if its going to judged. So I decided that the only way to learn to stipple is to stipple so I did it! I have to say, I am so happy with the results. I know that there are many mistakes in this quilt and one day when I look back on it years from now, I might sort of roll my eyes at all the mistakes. But today, I AM SOOOOOO HAPPY WITH THIS QUILTING!

Lord knows I will not be winning any prizes for these photos! Not so great but here they are:

I know its really not stippling but more like loop-d-loops. I still love it! Thats all that matters, right?

Stats:

5 current projects

The baby tube quilt needs to be bound
The baby rag quilt needs the ragging to be finished up and then washed
The Jelly Roll 1600 will get two additional borders before its sandwiched
The other Jelly Roll 1600 needs the piecing completed
Happy in Cali needs the quilting to be completed and then it can be bound!

I have no new projects at this time but I am starting to think about some quick lap quilts for family Christmas gifts.

Still working on the masters and still planning to be finished soon and very soon!

Other than this, I am sort of drawn to the Farmers Wife Quilt along that are going on right now. I am planning to purchase the book and to attempt to make this one over the next what will likely be several years of my life! At first, I was turned off by the fact that its done with templates. Then I heard over on the Hip to Be Square Podcast that there are paper piecing patterns out there. So, now I really think I am going to do it!

Thats my progress. Pop on by Freshly Pieced to see what everyone else is up to!

Works In Progress Wednesday!

2011-07-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a while. I have not been able to craft because I was so focused on working on my Master's Degree. I think I wrote 3 papers and completed my capstone project which included a video presentation, over the last 4 weeks. So, I am now on the brink of finishing my MBA! Just two more exams and I am done! I cannot wait until I can't count this as a finished project. My goal is to be done done done by the first day of fall. For me, taking exams is easier than writing papers so I really think I can do it by then.

We are on vacation this week and my mother is in town so we have been having a lot of fun with our little guy and he is enjoying his granny and she is enjoying him. I am getting spoiled because my mother is doing lots of cooking and cleaning! Yeah! Hey, I did not ask...its just what she does. Who am I to stop her? Seriously, I am so so grateful for her.

Since we are on vacation, I got a chance to do a little crafting today. This is a combination of the Jelly Roll Race Quilt seen here:

And some fence rail blocks for borders. I think this is the final incarnation of my red, black and white quilt. I will probably add an additional solid red border and make a scrappy binding for this one. I did not work with a jelly roll. I cut a ton of red/black/white strips and just followed the process seen in the video. I had already made several fence rail blocks because I was originally planning an entire fence rail quilt. But I really like how this is turning out so far. Check it out:

The lighting is terrible but it really is turning out nicely. I like the scrappiness of it all!

Finally, take a look at my two favorite fellas on Father's Day. We went to see Sesame Street Live and a good time was had by all!

Since I will be studying intently over the next few months, I am not sure when I will participate again in this WIP Wednesday Linky party. But I will be checking it out every week and so should you if you are looking for inspiration!

WIP WEDNESDAY!

2011-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a sandwich! That's right, Happy in Cali is sandwiched. On toward the Quilting!

I was inspired by Lee over at Freshly Pieced when she posted her lunch totes made from this tut:

http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2010/08/tutorial-lunch-bag.html

Here is my version:

This was a very easy project and I highly recommend it. Check out this and other tuts over at the Pink Penguin. She is a very talented blogger.

The baby quilt is still awaiting a binding and this handbag is done for the most part.

Please excuse my messy desk at work!

I continue to work on my masters. its so hard! I am sure I have senioritis and mommy-of-a-2-year-old-itis because I cannot seem to focus on this degree! I did manage to turn in another paper and got an A on it! Yes! Moving forward. I will be glad when this particular project goes into the completed pile.

And speaking of my little two year old work in progress, he started Karate class this week. Can you believe they have this for 2 year olds? Right now its all about teaching them to follow directions, no real technique for about another year or so. But check out my boy's moves! Pretty good for a first try! Forgive the blurs, he was a moving target and I took these on my blackberry.

one last bit of cuteness.

So stop on by freshly pieced to see what everyone else has been up to!

Works In Progress Wednesday!

2011-05-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

I think this might be my 4th WIP Wednesday. I really like this linky party because it keeps me productive. Since last week I have only worked on the handbag that I had cut out. I have stayed up late so that I could craft after my little guy goes down for the night and after I have put in some time studying since I am still in pursuit of my master's degree. I just can't put he crafting aside though! I also got sick so I did not get to do much of anything for a few days. So here is the pattern once again: This is the front view: This is the inside of the purse: Another look a the inside pockets: this is the inside of the gussett: The only thing left is the handle and I will be able to use my new bag. Maybe I can wear it on Sunday for church. We shall see! Other than that, I still have to bind the baby quilt and sandwich the happy in cali quilt. I also have a rag quilt to finish. I think I will get a lot of these finished by the end of june, depending on the progress of my school work. Hop on over to Freshly pieced to be inspired by all the creativity going on!

Works In Progress Wednesday!

2011-05-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

So, I am now ready to bind this baby quilt. I did some simple straight line quilting. I know things are so not perfect in this quilt but I absolutely don't care. I love it!

close up of the quilting:

front

Back

My news project is a hand bag. I have cut out most of the pieces. Hopefully I will have this sewn up by next WIP Wed.

Happy in Cali is still waiting to be Sandwiched and the rail fence bed quilt is waiting patiently to be pieced. I also have a baby rag quilt that is just about done. Maybe I will have some finishes this Month!

Join in the fun over at Freshly Pieced and let the projects inspire you to keep progressing!

Monday Morning Weekend Review

2011-05-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a great day. I had been very sick all day on Friday so I was not even sure if I would make it to my May Crafts Day with my group. But my stomach settled down just enough for me to join my crafting buds!. People were doing everything from Knitting to painting to sewing. There was even a girl there who is trained in acupuncture and she was making earrings out of acupuncture needles! Another lady was making clutch bags from place mats of all things. And we had some kids there this time around. A new member brought her son and daughter. The boy was making a spiderman quilt and the daughter made the cutest dress with a lot of help from her mom. Check us out!

I was ablt to finish quilting my baby quilt and am now ready to bind! I might get a finish this month! Check out the quilting:

Front:

Back

I am very happy with my progress in crafting. However, I seem to have stalled out in my progress toward my master's degree. These self paced programs are a blessing and a curse on some ways. Its nice for working parents because you can do as much as you can do and not be penalized. But its trouble when you lose your motivation and energy! I am still hopeful that I will be finished by the end of June but I have so much work to do! I need serious prayer.

And when you live with this much cuteness, who can blame me for not wanting to spend my time with my nose in a text book!

Monday Morning: The Weekend Review in Pictures

2011-05-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is a new feature I hope to post every morning in an effort to post more frequently. I know its not morning anymore and in some places its not even Monday, but it is in SoCal so here goes!

Celebrating and Great Lady and a Great Friend on her 70th Birthday On Friday Night

Gymboree on Saturday with my favorite little Guy!

Playing in the Park on Mother's day with my son.

Mother's DAy Cards from my kiddo. He "made" the one on the left.

A little's Mother's Day Crafting:

And a final bit of cuteness playing games on the iPad.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day!

Works In Progress Wednesday

2011-05-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Another week has gone by and its already May! Its so hard to believe that the year is almost half over. Time sure does fly. Befoer we know it, we will be eating turkey and unrwrapping presents under the tree. But lets not go there right now.

First up, my rail fence bed quilt. I decided to try to make sort of a disappearing nine patch pattern with the squares to make more interestingly scrappy! I think its turning out good so far, though I wish that I have used a solid square in the middle instead of a pieced one. Each small square is 8 inches so the 9 patch was gigantic. I like it so far.

Since I finally got my walking foot for my machine, I have been slowy quilting this way over due baby quilt. The walking foot makes a big difference! I think I have managed to get 3 squares quilted so far.

(The sandwich is bad, I know but I will make it work!)

Here is close up so you can see the quilting:

So thats it for me so far. Check out all the other crafy happenings over at Freshly Pieced, every Wednesday and maybe join in the fun!

Works In Progress Wednesday

2011-04-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Happy in Cali is finishded. I am planning to do straight line quilting on this one since I am new at Machine quilting. I have been practicing stippling but there is much learning to be done in that area. I ordered a walking foot for my machine which did arrive so Happy is next in line for quilting.

Check it out:

Its going to be a nice little throw quilt for me!

I pulled out my rail fence blocks so that I can focus on getting this once finisihed. This is going to be for our bedroom. I am gathering inspiration from mags and the net to figure out how I am going to lay them out. They are 8 inch blocks and we have a queen so I have to make a good amount of them, depending on how I decide to lay them out.

Here they are so far:

Join the fun over at Freshly Pieced!

Oh, and for a little cuteness, check out my previous post. Cuteness at the end!

Quilting Fun!

2011-04-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my son's birthday by taking him to Legoland! I just cannot do a big party every year so we decided that a fun place like legoland would be perfect for a brand new two year old! I actually have to give credit where credit is due and say that my husband planned the whole trip. I just sort of showed up and through some clothes in a suitcase (after he had already gotten his clothes and my son's clothes pack\ed!) and jumped in the car. Everything was perfect from the hotel we stayed in to Legoland itself. It truly was the perfect place to celebrate for a child this age. The smiles on my boy's face were really worth the ticket price (not cheap, btw!).

When I knew we were going to legoland, I of course realized that we would be near some cool quilt shops. One is called Quilter's Paradise and its in Escondido California. My husband endured a trip here right before we headed to legoland. We almost missed the place because its in area where there are no other retail shops. I guess this is a testament to quilters. We know where to go when we need fabric! When we got there it looked closed but thank goodness I got out to take a closer look and found that the door was open! The place is huge! I did not think to take pix of the inside but if you are in the area, GO GO GO! I plan to go back!

I also went to QUILT IN A DAY! I don't know what I was expecting but it was such a small place because most of their business is online. They have a large classroom and the set where they shoot their shows is also on the premises. Check me out in Eleanor Burns' parlor:

And here is the retail space:

I bought the pattern for this hugs and kisses quilt and I think I have mostly figured out how to make it on my Accuquilt GO!

This place had really good fabric prices and I picked up a few pieces for a future project. Hopfully I can start working on it soon, though I still have 3 current WIPS that I need to finish up!

Since I always like to leave you with just a little cuteness, here is my little one having a ball at Legoland!

Works In Progress Wednesday

2011-04-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

I am joining in on Works in Progress Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced! I am planning to do this every week! This will motivate me to keep working on all my UFOs and hopefully finish some great projects this year.

.

So, this is my friendship braid inspired quilt top. I saw this tutorial over at Missouri Star Quilt Company:

I realized that I could use my Accuquilt Go and the Chisel Die to create my version of this quilt.

I laid them out a few times before I found this layout that I love.

Here, I have pieced that strips and added the first border.

Hopefully I will have the entire top pieced by next Wednesday and then it will be ready to quilt. I am going to attempt some straight line diagonal grid quilting. Hopefully it will work out. I have to say that I really love my Accuquilt Go! It saves so much time and with all that it going on in my life, I do all I can to save time! This is the first of I believe many quilts that I will be able to create using my GO!

My other work is progress is not quilting related or even crafting related. Its my Masters Degree! I am happy to say that though I am still working on it after 3 years, I am so close that I can almost taste it! I will actually be done by the end of June! I am so excited. My program is completely online and the school is in Salt Lake City. So if I actually want to participate in the ceremony, I will have to fly to Utah. At first I was thinking, whatever, who cares as long as I get the degree. But this has been such a battle that I think that once I finish, I MUST walk down that aisle and receive my degree. So, Salt Lake City here we come! ( probably next year though since they only have two ceremonies per year.)

Oh, how about a 3rd Work in Progress: The Cuteness!

He will be progressing for a while though I know time is flying pretty quickly. Its so hard to believe that he will be 2 years old next week! My husband and I have been looking at his baby pictures and some from just one year ago. Its just amazing how much kids grow in such a short amount of time!

We are planning to take him to Legoland. Hopefully I will be able to visit a quilt shop in the area while we are there! Stay tuned for more pics and updates!

April Craft Day!

2011-04-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the April meeting of my craft Meetup. We had a fabulous time. I actually found this group on Meetup.com and its a fantastic group of people. If you are looking for a likeminded group people to craft with or looking for people who share your other interests, Meetup.com is a good place to start. Check out the fun time we had.

I worked on three sewing projects. I clipped my rag quilt. I still have some more clipping to do. I also pieced a new quilt that I will post in a few days. And, I began hand sewing tabs on the back of my little art quilt that I made last year and posted about here:

http://kimknitsinla.blogspot.com/2010/07/oc-county-fair-quilting-and-more.html

I had the little art quilt taped up to the wall but now I want to actually hang it properly. So I found this easy you tube tutorial:

http://youtu.be/Cgsb-qZA6Bk

Here is my rag quilt so far:

Front

Back

Hopefully I will post about my 3rd project, which I am making with my Accuquilt Go Die Cutter!

I almost forgot to add a little cuteness! Here you go!

Favorite Things Friday!

2011-01-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

There is a cool linking extravaganza going on at Quilting In My Pajamas

I think this is a fabulous idea, very positive! Stop by her blog and join in the fun!

One of my favorite things has always been baby giggles. Now that I have a son, his laugh is my favorite! And boy can he laugh. He is such a happy guy that I get to see his smile as soon as he wakes in the morning and here his laugh throughout the day. He giggles as we leave the house in the morning and he giggles in the car on the way to the sitter's. He giggles again when I see him after work. I absolutely adore him and his laugh is best sound in the world!

Don't look too Closely but I finished a quilt top!

2011-01-26T00:12:00.000-08:00

Its imperfect, but finished and I love it! Of course. I am going to take some classes for sure once I finish my master's degree. For now, I am sort of learning techniques from the internet. I need to learn the basics but I just love to give new easy techniques a try. This quilt is going to be for a friend who is having a little boy. Hopefully she will not look to closely at how the squares do not line up. I think I am going to do some stitching in the ditch for the quilting. This is made from some great flannel fabrics I got at Joann's on Black Friday. What a bargain. I think she will love it and it will feel so good on the baby's skin.

I think this is going to be the year of the baby quilt. I have at least two more to do this year. I know one will be for a boy and I am hoping the other girl will have a girl. I just want to make something pretty and frilly!

The next thing I would like to try is a rag quilt. Check out the tut here
Baby Rag Quilt

Stay tuned for that one.

Finally, as always, just a little more cuteness!

Whoopdidoo and Dickery Dock! Its the Holiday Season!

2010-12-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

Its so hard to believe that we are in the midst of another holiday season and the year is coming to an end. I don't think I lived up to any of my new years resolutions but its been a great year anyway! We are enjoying our time with the little guy and with friends and family. I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed because I have a lot going on. I was going to give up on all the new things I did last year that I had hoped would be the beginning of family traditions for us. But I woke up the other morning reflecting on how happy I was last holiday season and decided that I had to change my attitude. Instead of focusing on the overwhelming stuff, I decided that the traditions must live on! Even though its hard to get anything done with an active 20 month old running around, I decided to sacrifice and stay up to get everything done. Afterall, I am only going to have one Christmas 2010 with my family so I have to make the most of it. So I have been up sewing every night trying to get our family pj pants done. I thought I did not have time but I have two pair basically made,(just to to hem the cuffs and add elastic to the waist) I will make my pair today.

We also joined some friends and made holiday cookies and going out to view Christmas Lights. Some neighborhoods go all out and its so fun to see. My son was totally into it as you will see from the pics.

We also decorated our tree finally:

And I have completed all of my blocks for the baby quilt I am making using the tube quilting technique. Its coming out great. Its so far from perfect but I think its going to make a great gift.

I think I am going to add white flannel sashing and then I have another blue lamb print for the border and backing. Its turning out nicely! I really love easy techniques that work up quickly and this one fits the bill.

Finally, just a little more cuteness!

Sweet and Spicy Jerk Ribs Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

2010-12-04T22:53:00.000-08:00

Sweet and Spicy Jerk Ribs Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

These ribs turned out tender and tasty. I highly recommend this recipe.

Good Stuff!

This is a stock photo but I think mine look even better! No time for a photo though!

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

2010-11-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

So my family had a fantastic holiday and I really enjoyed Black Friday Shopping. I especially enjoyed going to JoAnn's Fabric! I got tons of flannel fabric at 1.29 per yard! I am making a baby quilt for a friend who's baby is due in early spring so I got several blue prints and some solid white flannel, among other things. I am making this quilt using the tube quilting technique demonstrated here:

This is such a great technique for beginners, which is what i am with only 4 quilts under my belt. Check out my blocks. They look way more complicated that they really were to make. This quilt is going to come together fairly quickly. my blocks are totally imperfect but I love them!

Overall, a great long weekend filled with great time with family and friends, great food and great crafting!
Finally, I will end with an overdose of cuteness!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2010!

2010-10-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

I was planning to enter my quilt in the online show next year in the spring. Who knew there was a fall festival! Yeah! So I am entering my my Crazy Shortcake Quilt, only the third quilt I have completed so far. I have blogged about it before but I wanted to show it because I am very proud of it and it was so well received by the recipients. Check out their smiles!

This was done using a quilt as you go technique and a layer cake. It was easy, fast and much appreciated. I am planning to do another one for another friend having her first baby boy early next year.

Go on Over to Amy's Creative Side and join in the fun and view some lovely quilts!

In My Crockpot:Green Chili Stew Recipe

2010-10-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

I changed this up to make it more toddler friendly by leaving out the green chilis and replacing it with green salsa. Since I used the salsa, I also cut the water back to 2 cups. Its smelling pretty good right now so I am hopeful that this will go over well with my family.

Green Chili Stew Recipe

In My Crockpot:Hot and Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken Recipe

2010-10-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hot and Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken Recipe
This is my first try on this one. Hope it turns out great!

Tanaka Farm Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today at the farm. Our little guy thoroughly enjoyed his time running through the pumpkin patch, the corn maze and the petting zoo. Check out the photos and the videos!

A good time was had by all!

Is it really October already?

2010-10-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have not posted since August. Hmmmmm, where should I begin? Well, I have recovered very well from my surgery. Still in school, fighting to finish. Already thinking about the holiday season. Fall and winter are my favorite time of the year because of the family focus during the holidays.Its just that much more special now that we have a little one. Believe it or not, he is almost 18 months old and just a joy! We are taking him to a pumpkin patch this weekend and I will be posting about that soon. I have been crafting a lot lately. I have been making gifts for the holidays. I am planning on doing a little grab bag with my girlfriends so I am making all the gifts that will go into that grab bag. I won't post pics now but I will later. I have also been doing some sewing for my boy. I made a hoodie for him from the this book:

Kwik Sew

This was a fairly easy project and it turned out great. And my son seems to like it!

Here is the hoodie and some cuteness!

crafting and recuperating

2010-08-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

I am at home this week after an outpatient surgical procedure last week. I am doing well and will be back in the swing of things next week. Being off has afforded me the opportunity to do a bit of crafting. Because of my surgery, I am not allowed to lift anything over 10 pounds so my son, weighing in at 23 lbs, continues to go to daycare while I heal. So, that leaves me with time to craft. The first few days after the surgery, I was in a percocet induced haze so all I did was lay on the couch and babble unintelligible words and phrases which my husband rightfully ignored. But by Monday I was able to handle my sewing machine so I decided to work on a baby quilt I have been making for a friend. I am happy to say that I finished it! The baby is due in the fall so I am way ahead of the game. This is my second Crazy Shortcut Quilt and I have to say, I really enjoy quilting in this style. This was made with one layercake that I found on ebay for $6.00! The sashing and the binding is symhony broadcloth from JoAnn's that I got on sale so this gift was very affordable. This pattern works up quickly since the squares are precut. It took me a while because I have a little one and am in school and have precious little time for crafting. But I really think if you have the time, and you are good at Quilting, you could finish this one in no time. Looking forward to making more of these in the future!

This pattern was developed after the book was published and you can find the pattern here:

Marguerite's Blog

Its so far from perfect, but it turned out great and I enjoyed the process!

And finally, a little cuteness for the road:

OC County Fair, Quilting and more cuteness!

2010-07-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

I think I may have said before that the one thing that I have always been sure of is that I wanted a family of my own. When I think about my life now, I just smile. I mean, life is not perfect, we have debt, we live in a small apartment, we are not working at our dream jobs and I have been battling infections all year. But even with all that, I am very happy because of my family! I am sort of shocked when I say that I am happy. Its because what matters most is family and good solid friendships and I am rich in both. I have a fantastic husband, a wonderful baby boy who is growing up way too fast, a fantastic extended family who love us all and who have completely fallen in love with my son ( although, who could blame them, he is so precious!), wonderful wonderful friends all over the world who have rejoiced with us and mourned with us. I feel so very very rich! I finally have the right perspective on life (at least, right now I do!). I could not ask for more.

This weekend, was all about family, even my crafting! DH and I took our little one to the Orange County fair. We had a blast. The little guys clapped the whole time as we walked through the rides, exhibits and games. He could not do much, but he seem to really enjoy just being there adn seeing everything. This was my first time at the fair. It was truly like an old fashioned fair. There was a working farm, there were pie eating contests and arts and crafts exhibits. Beautiful quilts, woodworking projects, knitting and crocheting. I was inpired to enter one day ( not sure when though!). Then there was the food. Why is it that they fry everything at fairs? Check out some pics:

So this was a great family day for us. So cool to watch our son experience life.

In crafting, I have a finished object! I actually worked on this all week to try to finish is. It was supposed to be done in feb for our anniversary. Of course, it just did not work out. But I managed to get it done. Its sort of an art quilt, totally improvised by me. I think it came out great. Its so not perfect but I love it!

We ended the weekend by teaching Sunday School to the 3rd and 4th graders and I thoroughly enjoyed the kids!

So, you see, a fantastic, fun filled, family weekend!

crafty day today and a giveaway announcement

2010-07-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

I woke up early this morning and while the house was still quiet, I worked on the shawl I am crocheting. This is a slow work in progress which I neglected to take a picture of before posting. So that will wait until next time.

My friend and I had a crafty afternoon today. I quilted and she was making jewelry.

I am working on my second Crazy Shortcut Quilt. This one is the Shorthcake pattern made from one layer cake. The shortcake is a baby quilt and I already know who will be receiving this one. The baby is due in the fall so I am ahead of the game.

Here is the Shortcake pattern, in case you are interested in trying this technique:

Crazy Shortcake

Here is my work:

This quilt has 20 squares. The pile on the right is the 16 I finished and I have 4 more to quilt as seen on the right. This little project is going to be finished way ahead of time!

Here is my friend's beautiful wire wrapped pendants:

All in all, we were very productive today!

edited to add cuteness:

Finally, make sure to head on over to Spun Sugar Quilts if you are a quilter and want to win an ACCUQUILT GO Cutter.

cooking and quilting

2010-07-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today, I spent most of the day with my little family. We enjoyed going to the local farmers market this morning because we had an evening service today at Church. After the market we came home and while I cooked for the week, my husband watched the baby and washed 3 loads of clothes.

I had a marathon cooking event in my kitchen. I try to cook a few things we can eat throughout the week on the weekend so I don't have to worry about it through the week. This weekend I made:

beef stew
rice
pasta sauce
beans from scratch
squash/potato soup and

this:
Cookie Sheet Chocolate Bars

I am planning on taking a nice portion of these to my bible study group this week. The turned out great! See:

I love the Mennonite Girls Can Cook site. They really can! I have made 3 of their recipes so far. All have been hits!

I have not quilted this weekend but I did a lot before I left for my vacation. Here is a sneek peek of my next crazy shortcut quilt:

Here are some closeup shots of the decorative stitches I am using for the quilting.

I love the little hearts!

Finally, I will leave you with some cuteness!

Want to win a quilt?

2010-06-25T09:52:00.001-07:00

Go here:

Works In Progress

back again already!

2010-06-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I am feeling a bit free. I just turned in my last paper for my accounting class. Whew! This class kicked my butt! At any rate, its just about over. I have one last 6 month term and I will have my MBA! I am so looking forward to finishing this program. I started it before our son was born and it has been so hard to keep going at it. And believe me, I have been whining the whole time. Its been like pulling teeth to get me to finish my work. I have a great mentor who continues to encourage me through this program. I owe him a lot.

I felt so free that I wanted to bake something for my girlfriends who I was going to see tonight. So I found this great blog while internet surfing several months ago:

Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

They have some great recipes and I cannot wait to try more of them. Tonight I made this:

Platz

It was a total hit with my girlfriends!

Check out my version. I did it with peaches.

My Platz

Its very tasty. THis recipe is a keeper for sure.

Other than studying and caring for my family, I have also been crafting. I started my second Crazy Shortcut Quilt and am considering joining this quilt along:

Quilt-A-Long

Clearly I am a bit delusional about my time!

Anyway, I am planning to blog more about my crafting, my cooking and my progress in school. Bye for now!

oh, here is a pic of the baby boy mentioned above. He is growing and changing everyday. Its so hard to believe that he is 14 months old already!

ok seriously this time: Bye for now!

Its been a while!

2010-06-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in while but I am happy to say that things have been going well. My son turned 1 in April and we had a great party to celebrate. Tons of people came including my mother and sister all the way from Chicago. Its so hard to craft with a toddler in the house( Yes, he is walking! He started walking about a week after his 1st birthday.) So as far as projects go, I have 1 crochet UFO, 1 knitting ufo, and two quilting ufos. I can only craft every so often and most of the time its late at night. I did find and join this great crafting group and I did manage to finish one of my 3 quilting. The women in this group are so fantastic! People do all kinds of crafts. There were quilters, crocheters, knitters, scrapbookers, one cross stitcher and an embroiderer and a papercrafter! Wow, all I can say is wow. 24 people came to this meeting and I am so encouraged to have found these like minded women. I brought the quilt that I have been making for my son. It is not perfect, but with the help a fantastic quilter in attendence, I got it done!

The pattern is from this Book:

Crazy Shortcut Quilts.

It was very doable for a beginner like me.

I am so dang proud of myself and I am looking forward to making more of these.

I met so many great women, one of whom is the author of this Blog:

The Quilt Engineer

This lady is a true artist. Check out her work on her blog.

I think I am getting better at mothering and balancing all the things in my life (who am I kidding?!) I am hoping to find time to blog more and craft more, even if I have to stay up until midnight to do it!

I am still working full time and going to school. Hopefully, things will slow down a tad once i complete my masters!

Finally Posting!

2010-03-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to post for a while and am just getting to it. Its so hard to believe how fast time flies! My son will be a year old next month! It seems like just yesterday that he was born. He is now crawling, cruising and standing up without holding on to anything. He says mama and dada and his sitter swears he can say his own name! He is a fantastic kid and a ton of fun. The weather is great here in LA so we have been outdoors a lot. My son got in a swing for the first time a few weeks ago and he absolutely loves it! Check him out:

Other than enjoying my family, I have still been on my quest to obtain my master's degree. If I remain focused, I will be finished by the end of the summer. The program has been amazing so far, though I did lose focus the first 8 months of my son's life! I am finally back on track, though its still tough.

In the midst of all this, I am still trying to craft. I just don't want to stop doing the things I really enjoy doing. SO I stay up late or get up early to craft when I can find the time. I am really enjoying sewing right now. I have taken four classes at the Knit Sewing club in Culver City. For the longest I thought this place was some sort of hybrid knitting-sewing group. But its really about sewing with knit fabrics on sergers. I am so excited to be learning so much in these classes. Its a Japanese based company and apparently they have 250 clubs in Tokyo. We have four in SoCal. Each class is 2-3 hours long and you complete a garment in each class. I have made 2 skirts, one pair of pants and one top. The patterns are very basic but you learn a different skill on each garment. I am so excited to be honing my skills. I will have to get my husband to help me with a photo shoot so I can showcase my work. For now I have a picture of the quilt I am working on.I don't really have a pattern, just making it up as I go along.

I got these Moda Charm Packs from Fabric Mart. The quilt is so far from perfect but it will be perfect for me!

Healthcare Rant

2010-01-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

You never know how crazy our healthcare system is until you have to actually use it. So, as you know I spent the first 2 weeks on 2010 sick and in need of care. I am rarely sick and have been hospitalized 3 times in my 44 years. So, I rarely use the benefits that I and my employer pay for. This goround, I did have a need for wound care, which means I needed a home health nurse to come out to my place and clean my two wounds and change the dressings. Without getting too graphic, the wounds were left open (i.E., no stitches) so that they could heal from the inside out. So, proper wound care was super important, otherwise, I coud get re-infected. Initially, they did not give me a home health nurse at all and simply expected my husband and me to work it out for ourselves. SO I went to the doctor everyday the first week so that he could change my dressings. Then, they finally authorized a home health nurse who came a total of 3 times. But here is the kicker, they sent the nurse, without supplies! We were expected to have our own supplies. The hospital gave some, but the wounds can take up to a month to heal and as I write this, one of them still requires daily care. So, needless to say the supplies we had started running out. How can an insurer justify covering the nurse's visit but no supplies? Its really crazy to me. I tried to buy the needed supplies from the local pharmacy, but of course they had none of the items I needed. Lucky for me I work in healthcare and have friends in high enough places......

You would think that in a country as advanced as ours, one could get what you need when you need it, without a lot of trouble......

Looking on the bright side, my husband learned to care for my wounds from the home health nurse and has taken excellent care of me for the past several weeks. : )

Post It Note Tuesday 1-19-10

2010-01-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Join in the fun with SupahMommy's Post It Note Tuesdays!

Mothering Moments

2010-01-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Motherhood came to me later in life, as you know. However, I have been sure of only one thing in my life and that is that I wanted to be and was meant to be a mother. Sure, I thought it would happen differently and I thought it would happen much sooner than it did. But it turns out, it happened just the way it was supposed to and at just the right time in my life. It took me a while to find the right guy to marry, but boy was he worth the wait! And that wait has made me a much more grateful wife and a better one. I think the wait for motherhood has had the same result. I enjoy my son to the nth degree! I am so grateful for him and so is my husband. Even at 3 AM (yes, he still wakes up hungry at times, even at 9 months old!) He means the world to the both of us and we still marvel at the fact that we are finally parents. Our little guy has added a whole new demention to our lives and I will forever be grateful for him.

Uh oh, I think somebody is awake......better sign off now!

A funny thing Happened on the Way to 2010......

2010-01-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

So, from previous posts you can tell that my family and I had a wonderful Christmas season. We enjoyed time together and with friends and created some great new traditions and memories. We even planned to spend New Years with great friends in San Diego. New Year's eve started out fine. We jumped in the car and headed down to SD to spend two days with some of our best friends. Unbeknownst to me, an vicious staph infection had already invaded my body in two places and by New Years Day, I was absolutely miserable. I had no idea what was causing me to feel so bad but soon it became very clear that I had some sort of infection. I had chills and just felt like a truck hit me. I was, needless to say, no fun. I was trying to hold out and see the doc the following Monday, however, by Sunday, I was in tears and on my way to the ER. The triage nurse took my vitals and my heart rate was up and my temp was 102. No wonder I was feeling so miserable. They took care of my right away and I felt better almost immediately. I was then admitted to the hospital for 2 days of IV antibiotics. Turns out, I managed to get the worst staph infections you can get, which is resistant to antibiotics.So after I left the hospital, I had to take not one, but two antibiotics. I had to see the doc daily and eventually a home health nurse started visiting me at home to take care of me.

Once I started to feel better from that, my son caught a cold and of course, I got that too. I am batting a thousand so far in 2010! We are now both getting over our colds and I am healing well from the infection. I am looking forward to things getting back to normal around here and hoping that my hubby does not catch our germs. He has been fantastic taking care of me and the baby boy during this time. So, our new year has been postponed and won't be starting until February 1st!

Though I was tempted to think that this challenging start to the new year somehow marred the whole year, I am not giving in to that. This is going to be another great year for our family and it will be full of happiness, growth,change and good health! So, I am looking forward to this year and all that it will bring.

That's whats happening here, whats happening in your neck of the woods?

Post It Note Tuesday

2010-01-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

create your post it note today:

Post It Note Tuesday

2009-12-29T14:37:00.001-08:00

Superstickies picture
Originally uploaded by pettiskim2001

Join in the fun and create your post it note today!

December 26

2009-12-28T14:27:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, I go to the after Christmas sales on 12/26. This year was no different....well it sort of was very different. My husband and I went out with our son, but let me tell you, we were not out long. Having a baby changes everything! The crowds were more than we could handle. Pushing a stroller through all the crazyness was less than picturesque. We went to about 3 stores, spent very little and headed home. It was probably best for our finances anyway.

So we came home and I made us a meatless dinner. I made Butternut Squash and Chipotle soup and grilled Cheese sandwiches. I found the recipe for the soup here

It was very tasty! I actually added heavy cream to cut down on the spicy taste, but it still had a bit of a kick.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

We had a great time this year. The day started with opening wonderful gifts. What could be better than that? Watching our son experience his first Christmas. He is only 8 months old so of course, he does not know whats going on. And of course we could have simply thrown some wrapping paper on the floor and would have been just fine. But of course, we did not do that. Because this was also our first Christmas as parents so we bought and wrapped gifts for him. Then we tried to coax him into unwrapping them. Of course, I ended up opening them. It was still a ton of fun.

Opening his last gift:

We spent time with dear friends and had scrumptious food for dinner. This was there first time meeting our son:

Sorry for the wierd orientation!

We had a wonderful day together!

We ended the day with another new tradition: Reading the story of the birth of Christ to our boy, lest we all forget the true reason we celebrate Christmas.

All and All, the holiday season has been very special for us.

Looking forward to posting more in 2010.

Handmade Holiday

2009-12-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

This year, I did not have much time to prepare for the holidays. I am still pursuing my masters and had prepare for an oral presentation due on 12/21. Since my son came along, studying has not been a priority so I was barely hanging on academically. I had no motivation. I just wanted to be with my family and craft. So, since I did all that, I ended up putting off the studying until the last minute. I am happy to say that I passed. So that is over with. Unfortunately it also meant that my shopping, just about all of it, was done on Christmas Eve!

At any rate, I did manage a few handmade items. We really want to create memories and traditions. I did not grow up with many family traditions so I really want that for our son. So here are some of the things we did this year that we plan to continue.

Family Pajama Pants! One thing my parents always did was get new pajamas for us every Christmas. I decided to take it a step further and make family Christmas Pajama pants. Check us out:

I got the fabric at JoAnn's on Black Friday. I found an easy tutorial online and made the pattern and then sewed them up. Very easy project.

I also participated in an ornament swap. I received some beautiful handmade ornaments for my tree. Here is a picture of the ornaments I made:

Its sort of a beaded icicle. I swapped these and only kept one for myself. They were a hit.

Then decided to try my hand at candy making. I made these decadent sea salt carmels. I found the recipe here

These are these most decadent treats ever!

Here they are wrapped:

The Holiday has been fantastic so far. Our son is the best gift we received this year.

More Christmas day photos to follow.

Oh, here is our 2009 Christmas Tree:

Christmas Lights

2009-12-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

We went took our boy to see Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo to see the Christmas lights. These folks put on the dog in this neighborhood. Some homes had electric trains in the front yard and one family was actually showing the Polar Express in the front yard. It was a nice evening and our son was looking around in wonder. I think he enjoyed the lights. We for sure enjoyed watching him as he looked at the lights.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-12-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

Today I celebrated my first birthday with my husband AND my son today. It was a great day! I could have received no gifts because I got the best gift ever on 4/21/09! I feel blessed to have my family and am grateful for this day.

Blogging again

2009-12-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

I know I have neglected this blog, but I have been super busy with my little boy. i have been doing a little bit of crafting here and there but not so much knitting or crochet.I have been sewing a bit but mostly, I have been scrapbooking. Having a baby changes everything and I just love scrapbooking about the little guy. I think I have about 20 pages in his book. And I still have to scrapbook halloween and thanksgiving. My son is getting so big so fast. I will post a picture soon and very soon from thankgiving.

Motherhood is everything I hoped it would be and more. Now that he is older, we are getting sleep, but sleep deprivation is a crazy thing. Noone can explain it to you or prepare you for it. You just have to experience it. I went back to work when he was 3 months old. Its been crazy trying to be a working mother. I don't know how women do it! I guess we just do.

WE are enjoying all the firsts. 1st Halloween, 1st Thanksgiving, etc. My husband buys him a bib to commemorate all of these firsts. I will have to think of a way to save them all. Hmmmmm, maybe I can scrapbook with them?

Anyway, now we are getting ready for our first holiday season. I am having cookie exchange this weekend and we are putting up the tree. I also have some other family projects going. Whew! I am doing way too much. I will post some pics very very soon of my latest project. I am sew proud of myself. That a hint!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

What a great day we had today. Our son's first Halloween! He trick or treated but guess who will be eating the candy? : )

Another Blog!

2009-07-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

I just started a new blog! I will be blogging about Literacy in America. I will still update this one with my personal stuff. Come on by!

http://lifetimeliteracy.wordpress.com/

Little bit of my boy!

2009-06-01T14:40:00.001-07:00

Okay, excuse my voice, I was talking to a friend on the phone while I was taping this.

My baby boy continues to do well. He is growing and changing everyday. We are enjoying being parents. I have about a month left to my leave so I am trying to get our childcare plan together. Of course, I want to stay home with him. Living in SoCal does not lend itself to being a one income family. So, I am going to be a big girl about it and be grateful I still have a job.

I am trying to come up with a plan so that I can eventually stay home. I have launched my new business and if I play my cards right, I might be able to build it into something great. Check out my sight:

Kim's Bookstore

I have become an independent consultant for Usborne Books and More, an incredible line of educational childrens books. I am so excited about this opportunity. I have tried two other party plan businesses in the past and due to life circumstances I gave up on them. Mostly, these businesses were just not a great fit for me. However, Usborne, I believe will be perfect for me!

Its a great opportunity and if you want to know more about it, the info is on my site. I had a show that was not so successful but I ended up have 4 personal shopping appts and all four purchased books. Thats what gets me excited. The books really do sell themselves. Plus, I get to build a great home library for my son!

I am handling motherhood a bit better these days so I plan to update more often with more picks of my 10 WEEK OLD little guy. Its so hard to believe that he is already so close to being 3 months old!

By the way, anyone on facebook? Friend me! Kim Pettis Thompson

My Son

2009-05-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

I only have one hand available right now as the other one is holding my little one! Thanks for all your prayers! We are very very happy! And Sleepy!

Leaving Tonight

2009-04-20T12:16:00.001-07:00

Pray for us. I am leaving tonight heading to the midwest for the birth of our baby! Please Please remember my family in your prayers today and the rest of the week. Some of you remember that we got this far before and the birthmother ended up changing her mind. WE truly are praying that this is it for us and the next time I post will be a victory story! Official papers cannot legally be signed until 72 hours after the birth of the child. So, if the baby is born tomorrow, the papers will be signed on Friday. So please pray pray pray.

Thanks!

Kim

Victory Gardens

2009-03-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

During World War II, food was rationed and the government encouraged United States citizens to plant gardens to provide their own fruits and vegetables. According to statistics, 20 million Americans planted gardens anywhere they could in support of this government plan. At one point, Americans were growing 40% of their own veggies!

In this economy, we might need to revisit this idea. In fact some people are already doing it. I was listening to a podcast on frugal living. The host was describing how she and some of her friends and Neighbors have formed a cooperative where they each grow different things and supply one another with fresh veggies. Talk about saving! They simply trade out. And, these veggies are pesticide free. Since I am planning to be off with no pay, for 3 months once we get the baby home, I am looking for ways to cut costs. I think a victory Garden is a great way to save money. My problem is that I live in an apartment. While many apartments in LA have either a patio or a balcony, I have neither. So, I am going to try to plant a container garden. There are all kinds of resources on the web with info about what varieties to use. So I am thinking tomatoes, cucumbers and pole beans. I have learned that they have some varieties that have small footprints. I am so excited to do this.

When I was a girl, I used to go to the nursery with my grandmother all the time. Though we lived in Chicago, we had a great garden in the yard in the spring and summer. She grew all kinds of things, including tomatoes, collard greens, banana peppers and even pumpkin and watermelon. She also had all kinds of flowers. She was from the south, A Georgia Peach. She had a very green thumb. One summer, I planted a garden with the boy next door,(my playmate, turned prom date.. By the time we were done, we basically had a muddy messy plot, however, we did grow a handful of beans and a few carrots. I made some sort of soup out of them. Hopefully, things will go a lot better this time! We will see if I inherited that green thumb!

So Here is my little Victory Garden! I have one tomato plant, one yellow bell pepper plant and 3 sunburst squash plants. I hope I can do this! Wish me luck. I am already worried that they won't get enough sun. I will have to figure that part out.

For more info on victory gardens click here

For more info on container gardening click here

Adoption progress: Well, we will be meeting our new little one in less than 3 weeks if all continues to go well. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as I know you have been doing. Its very surreal. We are doing everything we need to do to get prepared, but somehow, its really hard to believe that its going to happen. If all goes well, a month from now, I will be holding my own little one! Pray!

Craft Day!

2009-03-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been so busy lately, studying, writng a paper and preparing for our adoption. I have not had much time to craft at all. So, I decided that this weekend, I would craft all day long ( while washing 4 loads of clothes, of course!). My husband had to work ( on a Saturday, no less!) so I had the place all to myself. Our place is not that big so it was nice to be able to spread out and not get in his way. So I was able to make a dress. Its not quite finished because of course, I made plenty of booboos.

This is the pattern:
Butterick B5040

I am making view B. I still need to put the bands on the sleeves and put the hem in. But overall, I like it. Looks better on Me that on my twin.

And speaking of my twin, I got her from HSN last year. I just took her out of the box yesterdy. I really like having a dress form. HSN is so great because they have the easy pay option so that you can sort of pay a little per month until its paid for. I also got a serger this way ( which I have to learn how to use soon!)

I was given a lot of Jo Ann's Fabrics gift cards for my birthday in December. I have great friends! I was able to put them all together and purchase this at the After Christmas sale:

The best sewing table ever. It opens up on both sides and offers a pretty big work space. So much better than cutting on the floor!.

So, I had a great day, at home, doing my sewing thing. Hopefully, I will finish the dress today and take a picture of me wearing it!

Update on Me

2009-03-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

I have had so much going on that there has been no knitting, crocheting or sewing or beading for the past several weeks. I am pursuing my masters degree and I had a big exam which I was not prepared for. Too much crocheting and socializing in the previous months! So, I had to knuckle down. And I am happy to say that I passed the exam! I was so relieved. Right after that, I had an 8-15 page paper due today. I am happy to say that it has been turned in! Hopefully, I wrote it well enough to be acceptable. So, I have officially finished the first year of my program a tad bit early. Which is great because we have some other good news! We have been matched with a birthmom! We are cautiously optimistic that we will finally welcome our child into our family. So, if I was not studying, I was dealing with all the things you have to deal with in this situations. So, I could not even think about crafting. I am hoping to do some crocheting and reading over the next several weeks before the baby comes. Hopefully, I will update the blog with some new projects and catchup on my blog reading.

Once the baby comes, I am planning to be off work for 3 months. Since I am not having a baby, I don't get to apply for state disability, so, I will be taking family medical leave, which will be unpaid. DH and I are preparing for this by researching ideas on frugal living. We will be pulling the belt way way tight from now until I return to work. My struggle will be to create healthy cheap meals. DH is diabetic so we cannot eat a lot of pasta and potatoes. Lucky for us there are some great whole wheat pastas and good ol' brown rice to help us. At first, the thought of living on one income was a little scary, especially since we are not debt free. But, we threw down the gauntlet and decided that it would be best for the baby if I can be home for as long as possible, no matter what adjustments we have to make. As we research it, its becoming a challenge. Hopefully we can do it!

More updates later

Venting

2009-02-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

I am up. I have a lot on my mind. Mostly, family. Namely, I want one! This adoption process is killing me! Its so hard to sit and wait. I so wish that there was something I could do to make it all work out tomorrow. But I cannot. Please pray for us. This is a hard journey. And I ain't no spring chicken.......

Thanks

Crochet Goodness

2009-02-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have not been posting But I have been making things. From the look of things, I have been doing way more crocheting than studying, which is not good. I have been so off focus. We recently were considering an adoptive placement. However, after lots of praying, tears and advice, we decided not to move forward. But for about a week we did consider taking a sibling group of 3! So, for about a week, I was overwhelmed with the possibilities. We learned a lot. We realize now that as first time parents, we just are not prepared to take on three older kids. Keep praying for us. We hope to welcome a little one into our hearts and homes in 2009.

So, since crochet is my therapy, I have been busy. Take a look:

Crochet and Jewelry Making Combined

2009-01-11T23:18:00.000-08:00

These projects not only allowed me to combine two of my favorite crafts, but also gave me instant gratification. I started and completed both today. I made a decision to honor and nurture my creativity this year and since I designed both of these, I guess I did that too!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog!

Well, I am back. And making resolutions for 2009. I won't list them all now, but here are a few:

I will knit/crochet from Stash only in 2009 in an effort to declutter my small apartment.

In fact, I will do all of my crafting, including sewing and and beading from the supplies I already own.

I will open an Etsy Shop this year!

Thats all for now!

I have been crocheting up a storm, just not posting. I will post pics of FOs soon.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Last Post for 2008. Here are my final FOs for 2008.

Hats for my friends:

A necklace for a friend:

Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments for all the kids in my life:

And a Hat for me! I will need it in Chicago!

Happy Holidays everyone and may all of our dreams come true in 2009!

YES WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-04T21:29:00.001-08:00

Congratulations President-Elect Barak Obama!!!!!!!!!!

YES WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Much Crochet!

2008-10-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

So, I guess my crafty passions change with the seasons. I was beading most of the summer. Now, I am just crocheting away! Pics later in the post.

I participated in my first Craft Fair 2 weeks ago. It was fun. My guild has a table. I had not really made much so I did not try to sell any of my own stuff, but it was fun to man the table and help everyone else. Look at all the stuff we had on our table:

Last weekend, I attended the Harvest Festival at the school where my husband is the assistant principal. He judged the chili cook-off:

See the lady judge in the Pebbles costume? Her husband won the cook-off. The fix was in! I did not enter because my husband was a judge. Go figure.

I did enter the pie baking contest. Take a look at the entries.

See the 3rd one from the left? Thats mine! It was a Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie. It was awesome! But did I win? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Close up of my pie:

Looks good right? Well it tasted even better than it looked!
So, once the contest was over, they sold the slices for $1.00. Look at the pics of the pies after the contest.

The pie on the far right in the red plate was the winner. It was some sort of chocolate cheesecake creation. Is that even a pie? The second one from the left, the green one with whipped cream, was the runner up. Now, take a gander at the nearly empty pie plate to the right of the key lime pie. The one that pretty much only has crumbs left. Thats whats left of my pie!!! The NON WINNER! I think the fix was in again. Because the lady behind the table won the contest! I was robbed! But I am not bitter.

No news on the adoption front. We have had a few calls here and there but no match so far. Keep praying!

I will finish up with more works FO's and WIPs

Special Olympics Scarves:

Special Project. More on that later:

Finally Finished Scrap Sensation!

2008-10-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, almost. I still need to weave in about 4 ends. But other than that, its fantastic. I finished it on Tuesday. I like it so much, I don't want to give it away. I am a mess that way. Once I put a lot of work into something, I want to keep it and enjoy it. I started this in April, right after our failed adoption placement. I think it was my therapy. Maybe thats why I don't want to give it away. Anyway, here it is:

The pattern is in this book:

My hubby and I spent a few days in beautiful Santa Barbara:

Look at the background! Santa Barbara is gorgeous.

Me, about 17 pounds lighter!

More Santa Barbara Scenery. Breathtaking!

Disappointed Cubs Fans and some Crochet

2008-10-06T09:01:00.001-07:00

Well, my hubby and I dared to go to the division playoff game on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium because they were playing our home team, the Chicago Cubs. Unfortunately our hearts were broken once again by this team. But, we actually enjoyed being at the game because unlike these people:

We did not wear any cubs gear. You might say we were chickens and we would say we were! The Dodger Fans were brutal and those poor people did not even stay to the end of the game. They were given grief the whole time. Dodger fans in the cheap seats can be brutal, especially once the beer starts flowing. It was crazy.

But, even though the cubs lost, the atmosphere at this game was amazing. The place was charged. That part was cool. Would have been better if we were dodger fans! If so we would have felt like these folks:

At any rate, there were some nice Dodger fans. One even took this picture for us:

Then again, we were incognito, so he did not really know we were Cubs fans.

Anyway, I did get some crocheting done. I am making progress on my Granny Square afghan. I am determined to finish soon. I want to get started on some projects for the child that we know God will bless us with soon. We are hoping for a placement soon! But I cannot start a new afghan until this one is finished. I have been working on it for months and months. This week, its done! I mean it!

Look at this determined look on my face:

This will be an FO post by the weekend!

A week Late, But Finally Some Pix!

2008-09-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been so into facebook that I have not been really keeping up over here. But I like my blog and I have some things to say and to show, finally!

Yesterday, two of my co-workers and I participated in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk 2008 here in LA. We walk at least 3 times per week on our lunch break in an effort to lose weight and get healthy. We have all lost weight so we are very proud of ourselves. One of my walking buddies cajoled the rest of us to sign up for the heart walk. I signed up and then wanted to back out. But I am so glad I did it! I helped raise money for heart research and burned some calories at the same time! We had a great time. My husband is going to join us next year!

Before We Started:

After We finished:

It was only a 5k route, but we were happy to be finished!

Adoption Update:

We are finally back in the swing of things. We are hoping to get matched soon, and I am still decorating the nursery, so pix soon, maybe even next weekend! Keep us in your prayers.

Finally, some pictures of some pretty things I have made.

Up first: Crochet Hats

My own Designs:

This is my floppy hippy hat with the 70's vibe. I was just messing around with this one.

Side View:

My Tam:

Tam from the Side View:

Boy Beanie 1 from S& B Nation's The Happy Hooker

Boy Beanie 2

I have also been making Jewelry:

I am in love with Lariats! These pix are not doing the pieces justice. People have been so complementary that I am now going to start selling on Etsy. I need to get a better camera though. I will keep you posted on that!

This will be one of my first pieces that I will sell. I wish the pictures were better. These look really pretty!

This is another piece that will go into the Etsy Shop eventually:

I am very proud of this one. My best friend's mom gave her some of her own old jewelry. Unfortunately the necklace broke. My friend asked me to fashion the beads into something pretty. This is what I have come up with:

I think it turned out great! I like it so much that I told her I want to keep it.

One last thing, I have been back on the south beach diet for about a month and have managed to drop 11 pounds! I am so determined to stick with it and reach my goal!

Sorry for this very long post. I guess thats what happens when you blogg once every 3 months! I am going to keep posting more often to avoid this!

Thanks for stopping by.

bad blogger!

2008-09-19T08:52:00.001-07:00

I have been so busy studying for my final that blogging has taken a back seat. I have been crafting. I will be updating the blog this weekend with pix. I did pass the final! I have also decided to squeeze in another class this term. I only have to write one final paper, so I think I can manage it. I have also been spending time on facebook. I love it. I have reconnected with lots of old friends. Its great to see pictures of their children and to catch up.

Anyway, I will be updating soon!

longtime no blog.....busy busy busy

2008-08-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Well the summer is just going by way too fast. I have been so busy that I have not taken time to update my blog. So here goes!

Things have been going well. Still decorating the nursery ( pics to come later in another post), crocheting, beading, traveling and trying to study. Whew! No wonder I have not been blogging!

July was a great month for us. I blogged about our trip to Laughlin, NV in my last post. But we also went to an incredible church conference in Phoenix. You know it was HOT! And so, I decided to make a light weight dress to wear to one of the evening events. I bought the fabric a while ago from the $2.00/yard table at Michael Levine's in downtown LA. (Fabric Mecca if you ask me!) I still buy cheap errr....I mean...um...economically priced fabric, since I am a novice. When I grow up in my sewing, I will buy the more expensive stuff. Anyway, I cannot remember at this moment what pattern this is but I think its McCalls. So, it looks like a nightgown and it felt like one but it was oooh soooooooo perfect for that HOT HOT Phoenix evening. It was about the least amount of clothing that I could wear and remain tasteful and not get thrown out of the christian conference:

Even though it was hot and I felt awful by the last morning there, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and was moved and inspired to do more for God. So, it was totally worth it!

I got a surprise at the end of the month. My BFF from Chicago came to visit me and we painted the town for 3 days! Our very subdued version of painting the town included shopping in Downtown LA, people watching on Venice Beach, a ride up the PCH to Malibu and dinner at Neptune's Net, and of course strolling down the Hollywood walk of fame. We stopped at the Disney Soda fountain and had some cool refreshments:

It was so good for my soul to have her here in LA. Just a little piece of Chicago to tide me over until I can go home again. We have her dear mother to thank for that wonderful weekend. It was her first visit to my place but it will not be the last!

Of course I was supper tired afterward because we basically did all that in 2 days. I never run like that but we had to make the most of her short visit.

So, as life got back to normal, I tried to get some studying in, but summer is just hard on a student! I just want to play! So, I did. I made a few things. Check it out:

This bag is inspired by Drew Emborsky's Chic on the Half Shell. Check it out on Ravelry. I changed it a bit to make the shape more to my liking and Drew (That Crochet Dude) even left me a message saying that he liked it!

I also made the Fat Bottom bag from S&B Nation's The Happy Hooker:

I like it. It turned out nicely. I carried it one Sunday to Church with a red dress that I made. I received a ton of compliments on both. It was a DIY Sunday that day!

In addition, I have been beading. All my own designs. Lots a stuff but here are just a few:

This one is a favorite!

matching earrings:

This one I like because its girly and it will go perfectly with one of my dresses:

I really enjoy the beading a lot. I think because its almost instant gratification. It takes no time to make a cute necklace and a nice pair of earrings. Plus, its a great summer craft alternative to knitting and crocheting.

So, as you can see I have been super busy and having lots of fun. Unfortunately, I ended up getting sick and have been in the bed for since Wednesday. Today was my first day back out in civilization and I still was not 100%. But I am feeling better by the minute. In fact, I think I hear my beads calling me........or , maybe thats my books calling me.......hmmmmmm. Nah, I think its the beads.

Caio!

Crochet Content

2008-07-16T10:53:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post a little creativity:

I made this for my co-workers dog. I modified a pattern I found online. Pretty cute huh?

I colored all around him so as not to show her boyfriend's legs in the pic.

I will post again soon with pics of our baby room. We have painted and put the baby bed together! And, some more crochet content coming soon.

Summer Break! (Warning: Lots of Pics!)

2008-07-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here which means that my educator husband is on break. So, we took a little break together this week. We had a blast. We went to Laughlin, NV for 3 nights and it was totally worth the trip. This is the beginning of the hottest time of the year for the desert, so our room was super duper cheap. At first I thought it might be too hot to really enjoy, with temperatures reaching 114 degrees! But I was wrong.

Laughlin is a like a gentler, quieter Vegas. Casinos on the river and great buffets in all of them. They don't have the big name shows, so if thats what you are looking for, you would have to go to Vegas. But hey, if you are big fans of these guys:

They were headlining there this week.

But, I digress,

My dh and I were just looking to relax and unwind, and we did. The road trip is about a 4.5 hour drive from Southern California and we enjoyed the ride. We stopped at Bob's big boy and had some all American food for lunch and took advantage of a photo op:

Then we gassed up the rental and continued our journey:

In Laughlin, the casinos are on the Colorado River. Its gorgeous during the night and in the daylight:

It was very hot, but we were either in our room, in the casinos, or in the pool. ( yes i got in the pool! Actually put on a swimming suit and got in the pool! I was so proud of myself. But that tells you how hot it was. it was the only way to be outside in the daylight.no picture of me in a suit though!)

You can shuttle between the casinos on water taxis. That was a treat within itself. The breeze was cooler on the water. Check out my dress, I made it myself from my own pattern! Its super simple, super flawed and totally what I needed for the hot weather. I am going to Arizona at the end of this month for a church conference and plan to make another one for that trip.

Water Taxi:

View as Water Taxi leaves our hotel:

Us on the water taxi:

This one is not the greatest, but you can sort of see how cute the dress was. Or at least, I thought it was cute. :)

The little tiny seemingly man-made beach at Harrah's

On the beach at night at Harrah's, our hotel/casino:

Overall, we had a wonderful time, we did not lose very much money, about $20.00. But my dh played in a poker tournament and won $140.00, so we came out ahead. IT was a lot of fun and I highly recommend visiting Laughlin. Its like a baby Vegas, with a more sedate crowd and no one trying to sell you a timeshare or handing you flyers for houses of ill-repute. And, I got some crocheting done on the road trip, pix to follow!

Ciao!

Crocheting, Studying and Beading

2008-06-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, today, I will turn in the last of 5 papers for this class. yahoooo! I will now be focusing on studying for the objective exam. I passed the pretest by 1 point. It was designed to help you pinpoint your week areas so you can focus your studying. I hope to be ready by August 1, or maybe sooner. I must say that I am really enjoying the program. I am wondering why I did not do this a long time ago.

Anyway, since i finished my paper a tad early, I was able to get in some beading and crochet. Check it out:

I got the pattern for the slippers from epatterns. This was an easy project and I finished them in about a week. They were a huge hit at the party. The ladies at the party told me I should sell them! I actually am doing a holiday craft sale in October, so I will be whipping up a few more of these to put in the sale.

On the feet of the recipient:

She loved them!

Well, I have a tiny bit of time on my hands, so While I am doing laundry, I better get some crocheting done. Or, maybe a little sunday afternoon snooze instead?!

WWKIPD and Jewelry Creations and Grad School

2008-06-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

This year, my guild got together to celebrate Worldwide Knit in Public Day. We divided ourselves between 3 locations. One of my great friends and I went to Del Amo Mall to knit with the ladies. Would you believe, that we got "broken up by the mall security!?! One of the girls in the group had contacted the mall last month to make sure that it would be okay for us to meet. Well, the guy in charge never returned any of her 3 phone calls. Apparently there was some paperwork that we needed to complete prior to meeting there. But, since he never called her back, we were not able to do that. But all was not lost. We simply had to sit on the mall benches and refrain from using our own chairs, and take down all of our little signs. So, even though we had to spread out, we still had fun. And we even had a few people stop and ask questions and knit a bit with us. We all brought extra needles in yard just for that purpose. We passed out some info re our guild so I think overall, we did our part in raising knitting awareness in southern CA!

Check us out:

I have been knitting and crocheting. No pictures though because I have not had a lot of progress. I have, however, been making lots of jewelry! Check out my handmade bling!

The first necklace is a reworking of one pictured here before. That one was one of my first efforts and I did not crimp it well, so it broke. I like the reincarnated version better.

Grad school is going well. I have been studying hard and getting good grades. Its exciting because I have not been in school in a while so I was not sure if my brain was going to get into the swing of things. But things are going so well that my academic adviser thinks I might want to think about accelerating my pace. Its a self-paced program so you can go as fast or as slowly as you choose. But I am still going to take my time so that I can really learn the info. I am enjoying though.

Its almost time to start the adoption process again. Please pray for my family. We are so nervous about putting ourselves out there again, but we are moving ahead and trusting God to take care of us through this process.

In other news, my dh received his formal offer on his new position as Assistant principal! We are super excited!

Grad School and Update on me

2008-05-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well, grad school is going well. I turned in my first assignment: A 3 page paper on situational leadership. I was stressing because I have not been in school in 20 YEARS! And even when I was in college, my major was fairly technical and so I might have written one paper in 4 years. I was going crazy and then my husband helped me. He gave me some great advice and I was able to finish my assignment and turn it in on time. And guess what? I passed!!!!!!!!! I am so excited. On a scale of 1-4 I received a 3.27. So, on to the next assigment: a 5-7 page paper on the Path-Goal theory of situational leadership. If I did not mention it before, you can probably guess from the subjects I am studying that I am pursuing an MBA. I was worried at first. But its been interesting so far. My biggest challenge I think will be the accounting class. That one worries me a bit. But overall, I think I will enjoy the whole thing. I also realize that now is the right time for this. I used to beat myself up about not doing this a long time ago. But I realize now that school is more interesting because of my real world experience. I think I will be a much better student this time around.

Also, I had a little health scare recently. I have been undergoing tons of testing over the last several months due to an overactive parathyroid gland. In the process of all that testing, they found nodules on my thyroid. So, I had to have a biopsy. I had it last thursday and heard from the doctor today that I am fine and that the nodules are benign! Very very relieved!!!!!

Today was a day full of good news!

Adoption update: We will be jumping back in at the end of June so keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully we will be parents by the end of the summer!!!!!

Oh, more great news. I don't know if I had mentioned that my husband is a teacher. He has been pursuing his masters in administration and will finish that this year. Well, guess what? He will be the assistant principle in the fall!!!!!!! I am so proud of him and happy that he is advancing in his career.

I have been crocheting and beading. I need to take some pics and post them next time.

Talk back soon! GOTTA STUDY!

Another Post So Soon!

2008-05-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I have finished my orientation for my MBA program. They give you 2 weeks to get it done, but most people get it done quickly so that they can get started with the actual classes. Tomorrow, I speak with my mentor and schedule all of my classes. I feel so supported already. I am a little nervous though. I read one of the message boards and two of the current students are having a hard time passing one of the exams! I am trying not focus on that though. Just gonna take it one day at a time.

Anyway, my real studying will start after tomorrow night. So today, I finished making this:

It turned out okay. Now, I am going to make some matching earrings.

I got the big beads from a bead fair last weekend. They had so many beautiful things. I was on a budget so I just picked up a few beads that I have not seen elsewhere, like the yellow ones in this piece. I also bought a gorgeous fused glass pendant that I am planning to make a necklace for.

Still working on the granny square throw for my sister in law. Hopefully I can get it done in between my study times.

School Started Today!

2008-05-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

I started today. The first course is just an orientation to the program. Its really cool so far. But the hard stuff has not started. I think I am going to like the online education thing. Its cool because you have mentor who will be with you until graduation. And, you have your fellow students that you interact with online. I have my first phonecall scheduled with my mentor tomorrow. I think that I am going to feel more supported in this program than I ever felt while pursuing my undergraduate degree at a traditional brick and mortar school, back in the dark ages! : ) Just kidding. I will keep you guys posted on this program. If its as good as I think it will be, I would definately recommend anyone who is interested!

TTFN!

Crochet Progress

2008-04-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hi! Long time no blog!

Thanks to all who have stopped by and left encouraging comments. I really really appreciate each one of you. My husband stopped by my blog and told me I needed to update it. I did not realize that I had not blogged in a month. All kinds of things have been happening.

I got sick at the beginning of April with a horrible cold so that knocked me out for about a week. As for adoption, we will jump back on that road at the end of June. I am scared to try again, but we will move ahead in faith. What else can we do? We know for sure we want a child so I have to find the courage to try again.

In the mean time, I am still doing needlework, reading with my book club and hanging with friends.

My book club has been together for more than a year! I have been in two previous book clubs and none of them stayed together this long. I think we have read about 15 books together. I did did not read the last book because we were caught up in the adoption madness. This month we decided to read a classic: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Its good so far. I am half reading and half listening to it on audio. It should be a great discussion in a few weeks.

Here is my latest work in progress:

and a close up of one of the squares:

Its an afghan, for my sister-in-law. I am making it as a Christmas gift. Each strip is made up of 6 squares. I have to make one more strip and then connect them and border them in black yarn. Should be pretty. I love the colors. I am participating in a Gift Along here:

Gift Along

Once I finish this I will have met the 2nd quarterly challenge and will be entered into a drawing for some fab prizes! I hope I win!!!!

I am planning to finish this soon because my time will be limited as of May 1. After thinking long and hard about it and speaking to my hubby about it, I applied to grad school!!!! And I start May 1. I have always intended to go to Grad school. I graduated from Northwestern University 20 YEARS AGO!!!! I cannot believe it has been that long! I took some graduate level coursed when I first got out of college, however, life got busy and my priorities got a little muddled and basically, life happened. Fast forward to 2002. I got married and pretty much immediately started trying to get pregnant. Since that resulted in no baby, we moved on toward adoption. And so far no baby. Every time I have thought about trying to go back to school in the past few years, I decided to put it on the back burner because I was either trying to get pregnant or going through the adoption process. With this last failed placement, I got really down and felt like I had been trying to accomplish something and have nothing really to show for it. I kept thinking that I could have had 2 master's degrees by now if I had just started. So now, I am starting. I found an online program that is fairly flexible. And, if I need to slow it down or stop it once we get our child, thats what I will do. For now, I am going back to school!!!! I am excited and nervous. Northwestern was not easy. I must admit, I barely graduated, but I did it! Even so, when I started, I defined myself by my intelligence. By the time I graduated, I did not know who I was. Simply put, I was BEAT DOWN after I got out of school! So, I am a little nervous about being a student again. I am hoping that when they say older students make better students, that they are speaking truth. We shall see!

I do plan to continue crocheting and knitting and sewing, just not as much. Gotta have some fun, right?

Anyway, I will be blogging in the future about how my almost 43 year old brain is progressing in school. Pray for me!

And keep praying for us re the adoption.

Pulling Myself Together

2008-03-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Thanks so much for all the prayers and well wishes. I can feel all of your support, believe me. My husband and I are fighting our way back from the challenges of the failed adoption. We have put our quest on hold until June. Then we will get back into the pursuit of a family of our own.

In the meantime, my needle work is helping me a lot. I am making to focus on my WIPs for the month of April. I am working on a cape, a shall for a friend, an afghan for my friend's daughter, a dress for my other friend's baby girl, a pair of socks and a baby bunting, amd a doggie sweater. Thats a bit much, so I am going to focus on one thing at a time until they are all done. Wish me luck!

Thanks again everyone and be on the lookout for FO pix!

Sad Update

2008-03-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

Our little guy was born on March 5. We brought him home on March 8. His birth parents could not go through with it. So, we gave him back today. We are devastated. Please pray for us. He is a wonderful baby, cute as a button. Sweet sweet baby. But no longer ours.

Astonishing Update!

2008-03-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we found out that our birth mother was being induced on Monday! So we are awaiting the birth of our boy! Keep us in your prayers.

We Are Matched!

2008-02-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! Just want you to know that we have been matched with a birth mother. The baby is due in VERY SOON so we are going crazy trying to get ready to bring home our baby!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Its very exciting but also makes us super nervous.

Packed Weekend

2008-02-17T19:31:00.000-08:00

As a general rule, I try to plan one event, at the most every weekend. I go to church every Sunday, so thats just a given. I do not know how it happened, but I managed to pack a lot into this weekend. On Saturday, I got together with my knitting guild. I have not gone to a meeting in about 4 months so it was nice to go. The ladies in the guild are not only nice, but they are skilled knitters. We had a lesson on Stash Busting and got some really great tips. Our newest member is the author of this blog:

knit lich

Look at her stash busting project:

One of member's also gave me a gift from her daughter:

This book is beautiful, educational and inspirational. I am so grateful for it!

On saturday evening, my husband and I joined two other close friend couples for dinner. We had a great time with the kids and enjoyed watching the slam dunk contest.

Right after church on Sunday, came home and cleaned because of course with all that I had done on Saturday, I had not cleaned a thing. And, I was hosting my book club for the first time ever. We read this book:

Julie & Julia

So, I had the bright idea that we should cook something from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and bring the dish to the meeting. So, I had to cook of course. Turns out the recipes in this book were a bit much for me. So, I paid homage to Julia and Julie by making a knock off quick quiche. I am sure this dish did not qualify as a french cooking by Julia Child's standards. But hey, it was good! We also had crepes and beef borgunione. The pictures don't do the food justice. Each dish was very very good! ( the pictures don't do me any justice either. This one is proof positive that big ol' t shirts do nothing, absolutely nothing for my figure!)

This is a long weekend for us so we are off tomorrow as well! Yeah! Thank goodness because I did way too much this weekend. Though I did enjoy every minute of it!I plan to do a lot of needlework tomorrow. And speaking of needlework, remember the boa i made. Well here is a picture of the one I made for my coworker:

Its black and taken with a camera phone, so its not the best, but it is a finished object! Hopefully, I will post more fo pictures later in the week.

Bye for now and if you are off tomorrow, Enjoy your day! If not, try to enjoy it anyway!

I have never been this excited

2008-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

about a presidential election!!!!! I went to the polls last week with a smile on my face. I cast my vote and smiled all the way home. I feel like this is the first time that I am not voting for the lesser of two evils. And its so exciting to be a part of history. To vote in a primary where an African American man and a Woman are running and really actually have a real chance to win. I feel like I have options that I respect. I am inspired by Mr. Obama and I hope to be able to call him Mr. President in 2009!

January Goals finished with one day to spare!

2008-01-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

My goals:

Scarf for Elisa-done
Hat for Chiti-done
skinny scarf and beanie for ME!-Done

And finally.....drum roll please..........SOCKS! FOR ME!

This is my first pair! I have definately begun the year knitting fearlessly. Yeah!
(now if I could just figure out how to add a button to my blog, I could get the knitting fearlessly button from knitting daily)

without further adieu:

Just a simple basic footie type sock. The yarn is from my stash and I think its called Dancing from knit picks in the color rumba. Might be the other way around. I lost the bands on this yarn long ago. Anyway, I think I am hooked on sock knitting!

When I was 11 Years old.....

2008-01-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

I begged my parents to send me to a sewing class. I lived on the Southside of Chicago and we had a mall where there was a Singer store. In the basement, they offered sewing classes. My best bud at the time was planning to take the class over the summer and I begged my folks until they gave in. (i was always kind of good at that!) I am not sure why I had to wear them down, maybe the cost of the class. Who knows. Anyway, they paid for the class and I started. Shortly after I started, my life got super busy and I got really destracted. I had my first little boyfriend and he gave me a little ring that he got from the candy store. At about the same time, my sister, Who was about 12 or 13, had attended her first wedding. She has loved weddings ever since. So, when the kids on the block heard about the ring, they started teasing us and asking us when we were getting married. Well, you know what happened: My sister started planning the wedding! We had rehearsal, we had a reception and I even had a white dress and veil! (one of my friends was catholic, so I used her veil from her first holy communion.) I also went on a vacation that year with my Grandmother. I think we went to Atlanta and New Orleans. I said all that to say, that I barely went to the sewing class that I begged for and consequently, did not learn a thing!
Fast forward to 2007. I decided to do the things that I always wanted to do. So, signed up for a sewing class. I have taken 2.5 5week sessions and below is a not so good picture of the best thing I made to far! Its so far from perfect and its not even done but I am so proud of myself that I had to post what I have done so far:

Its McCalls M5555 View B

As I said, if you look close you will see tons of mistakes but I think its great for a begginner!

Also, here is another Crochet FO:

I got the hat pattern online and I designed the neck warmer! It has cute buttons but again, I did not take a great picture.

I am almost finished with my first sock. I was going to crochet it to get the socks done quickly, but I had to admit that the knitted sock looks so much better so I forged ahead. I think I will get them done this week and will post a picture later this week.

Anyway, I off to continue my day of crafting!
Thanks for coming by!

New offerings from Knitty?

2008-01-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

Looks like Knitty has some new patterns up. I don't remember these from before. I really like this and might go for it. We shall see:

bell curve

I like the shape of this and it seems relatively simple. Seems like it would be very figure flattering.

How Much Would You Charge for this?

2008-01-18T08:54:00.001-08:00

I have been getting lots of requests for my crochet boa and hat set. I am trying to come up with a price for it but I am so clueless since I have never sold any of my stuff. So, I need your advice. What would you guys charge for this. It took me about 9 days to complete this set, but that included crocheting all day on new years eve since I was offI would guess that the total amount of time I spent making the hat was maybe 2-3 hours. The scarf was mor like 12-20 hours. I am not really sure. The yarn was super inexpensive because it is acrylic, maybe about $16.00 in materials.

You can see how it looks here

Let me know what you think!

another FO

2008-01-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Here is the Hat I knit for my friend's Husband. Its being modeled by my dh! Its a simple 1x1 rib and I really Hope it fits. Some of my stitches are a little uneven, but over all, its good!

On to my socks! I wanted to knit a pair for myself this month, but I think I am going to cheat and crochet them because it will go quicker. Once they are done, My January knitting/crocheting goals will be met!

FO Crochet/knitting

2008-01-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest. The yarn is TLC essentials. The scarf is sort of a freeform pattern of my own. I got the beanie pattern online. I have gotten a boatload of compliments on this set.

More to come later.

Its super long and perfect for my height. It was going to be a gift, but I have been wearing it everyday! So, I guess its mine!

The hat is cuter but I did not adjust it before I took the pix.

The is a gift for a friend.

I joined the Yearlong Giftalong that Marce Started here:

here

This is such a great idea! Its helping me focus. Plus you get great ideas from what others are doing. Check it out when you get a chance.

Thats all for now.

Oh, thanks for all the encouragement re the adoption!

Adoption Progress!

2008-01-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

Today is an exciting day. My hubby and I are still doing all of our paperwork but our agency called today about a baby boy born today in Georgia. They were calling to see where we stood with our home study. Since the baby was born today, they were looking for families who were finished or almost finished with the home study. We are not far enough along but it was great to get the phone call! We plan to be done by the end of the month with the home study so hopefully we will get another call at that time. I am just so encouraged that they are calling! I was almost a mother today! He was 7 pounds and some ounces. I guess some might be discouraged or feel like we missed out on this chance. But I firmly believe that our child is out there and we will be ready when he or she is ready. I just feel excited that we will have a child of our own in 2008!

Just had to gush a little bit!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe the year is almost over!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!

2007-12-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

I took the day off to relax, relate and release! My hubby is sick, so we will take it easy today and celebrate next week.

Finished objects!

2007-12-16T22:35:00.000-08:00

So, I have been knitting, sewing and beading. Here are a few of my FOs

This is a garter stitched rectangle, folded in half and seamed. Made with JOANN'S BOUCLE. I sort of made up the pattern. And, the cool thing is that I did not even use an entire ball of this yarn! And, I have gotten a ton a compliments on it.

Not the greatest picture of me, but you can see the shawl very well.

The only problem I am having with this is that the wide arms keep getting caught on everything. I am now making a crocheted version and am planning to modify the arms so that they aren't to wide.

I have also been beading. Check out some of my earrings.

These are some of my first efforts and I am still learning. But, I really like them. I am planning to make some for some of my girls for christmas.

And speaking of Christmas, I finally got my tree up. See the poinsettia ornaments? Made those too. About 4 years ago.

Dang, I'm crafty!

WEll, thats all for now. I will show some of my sewing projects next goround. I am almost finished with a dress I hope to wear to church next sunday, but I am having a devil of a time with the zipper! Any tips? Let me know.

Until next time.......

I am back!

2007-12-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Its been a while! I have been swamped with adoption stuff. Its going well. We had to move to a larger place and thats always stressful. We found a great new apt and are really enjoying the extra elbow room. We do realized that once we get the baby, our new found space will rapidly disappear! Anyway, now we have a mound of paperwork to complete and unfortunately in the midst of all this, we lost my mother-in-law. Very sudden. Its been hard on my husband but he is hanging in there.

Though I have not been blogging I have been knitting and SEWING! I will be updating with pics of my FOs over the weekend.

I just perused Knitty Winter! OMG! So many cute things. These are my faves:

dahlia

abotanicity

stardust

I have decided that I need to challenge myself in my knitting, so I am am going to finally try a sweater! These three are strong contendors!

Updates with pics next week!

Quilting Progress

2007-09-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finished 9 squares. This is a free form quilt but I think mine is a little too free form! The squares are odd sizes but I plan to make them uniform. This has been a lot of fun to do. I have always wanted to do this but have never gotten this far. I attempted one about 2 years ago but got frustrated trying to keep everything straight and gave up. But making this one, combined with everything I am learning in my sewing class has me looking forward to my next attempt. This quilt is special because I made it as a symbol of my faith that I will be a mother one day. I decided that I needed something tangible to look at when I think about being a mother to help me stay focused on the goal and not on the challenges of the journey to the goal. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the challenges of the journey and I really want to give up. Some days, in my mind, it seems like it would be easier to give up and to stop hoping. But I cannot imagine living my life without hope. Its always easier on me emotionally when I have something that I am looking forward to. But, like a lot of us, I can totally forget that when the pain and frustration overwhelm me. But if I keep my eyes focused on the end of the journey to motherhood, I can make it through all the challenges that I meet along the way.

About a month ago I heard this about James Stockdale:

In a book by James C. Collins called Good To Great, Collins relates how Stockdale described his coping strategy during his eight years in the Vietnamese POW camp.[1]

"I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade."

This spoke to me. Dealing with infertility and loss is absolutely a very very challenging experience (to say the least), and though I cannot say that I would not trade it, I know it has changed me in ways that maybe I would not have changed otherwise. These are changes that I value. And like Mr. Stockdale, I refuse to lose faith in the end of the story.

Since I do not know what I will end up with, I am making 2 quilts: one with a boy theme and one with a girl theme. And hey, who knows, we might end up with one of each! This is obviously the one for the boy.

We are making progress slowly with the adoption process and hope to start the homestudy process very soon!

There has been some knitting progress, but more about that in my next post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Knitting and Crochet today with My Guild.

2007-09-15T18:02:00.002-07:00

Today was knitting guild meeting day. As you know from previous posts, we have been working on a charity project. We were all to make various squares and the squares were to be knitted together to form lap blankets. The lap blankets are going to be donated to a convalescent home here in the South Bay. THe group met in August and knit together the squares. Some were taken home by different members to knit together. Today, they were all brought back in completed/

Well, I was having a hard time making all of my 10x10 squares actually all be 10x10Q Thus, the giant granny square!

One of the girls called it Pink Lemonade, which is exactly what I thought of as I was making it!

We collected 21 blankets in all and they turned out beautifully! For great pictures of all of the blankets check out our guild webstite. I am not sure when they will be posted but check back often!

Slipt Stitchers

This was such a great project that I am going to attempt to complete my these and make another one:

Our guild meeting always includes a class. Today we had a quick lesson on converting knitting patterns to crochet. It was very informative. It was taught by one of our guild members, Joyce Renee Wyatt. She is a designer and she specializes in converting knitting patterns to crocet. She teaches for Stitches. We are so blessed to have someone of this caliber in our group giving us lessons. Here is one of her designs. She actually brought this one to class:

Joyce Wyatt Design

This was a fantastic class. She is a great teacher and encouraged us to convert a knitted sweater pattern to crochet. I think I will try this with a scarf patter before I tackle a sweater!

Last but not least, I have to post a picture of what I received from my swap partner. I joined the Knit Happy Swap on Swapbot. For the month of August we had to create a knitted item for hour partners. This is what I got from my partner:

Its the cutest little felted bag. And the pin is removable and made by another person on Swapbot. Swapping is fun. I have done about 4 of them so far and its turned out great!

Well, thats all for now.Stay tuned for a new charity project that my guild is participating in! Plus an updated photo on the baby sweater.

Summer Wrap up and Beginning a New Craft!

2007-09-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend turned out to be fantastic. My dh and I spent Saturday in San Diego with some of our best friends and we had a great time. I was relaxed and really enjoyed spending time with my friends. I have found that in the past I have spent way to much time focusing on what I do not have and allowing those thoughts to drag me down. But I have made a concerted effort to make 2007 a better year, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. In doing that, I have realized that the most important thing in my life is love. And I get that all kinds of ways. Being in Chicago made me realized how much I am loved by family and friends alike. When I look at my dh I realize how blessed I am. I waited what seems like a long time for him to me. But he was totally worth the wait! And, days like this past saturday solidified the fact that I am rich. Rich in Love. I am truly grateful for my friends and my family. For sure they have been there for me and I feel blessed to be able to be there for them. Emotionally, I have been able to give back this year, because my heart is full. Physically, I have managed to lose about 17 pounds, though I still have a ways to go, I am a lot better off now than I was last year this time. Spiritually, I have definately been more connected to God and this is truly very important to me. I believe its because of this, that all the other things in my life are much better. I have a measure of peace that I did not have this time last year. So, I am better off mentally as well. Plus, I have knitted a lot more this year and we all know that knitting is the new yoga, so hey, I am batting a thousand. And I get to live in a place that is gorgeous most of the time! Check out San Diego:

This is a star fish!!! A real one!

Me:

Me and my hubby:

Sunset:

My friends enjoying the sunset:

It was a great way to close out the summer.

I spent Monday crafting amongst other things!Check out my free form quilt project. This is perfect for me because I really don't know how to sew yet. (i start my class next week!) This actually called for the stitches to be sort of off. Bingo! Perfect first project. I made three squares so far:

I am really enjoying this project. I got the pattern from DIY Network featured on an episode of Uncommon Threads.

I am so excited to be trying something new. Check back for more updates on my projects. Knitting update this weekend.

Talk back later!

Summer Reading (and a tiny bit of Crochet Content)

2007-09-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Between knitting, traveling and reading this has to be one of my most productive summers ever!. You have read about my traveling and my knitting( there is more of that to come, btw), but I have said very little about my reading.

This is a list of all the books I have read since June 1, 2007:

Bel Canto

The Other Boleyn Girl

Family Tree

Riptide

The Victory of Surrender

Funny In Farsi

Mt Sister's Keeper

Knitting

I also listened to the Friday Night Knitting Club on cd!

Whew! How did I manage that? Well, I joined a reading group last year and 3 of these books were read within that group. Its a great motivator. But, I also turned off the TV a lot. I realized that I am just way too familiar with and even attached to tons of TV shows. So, when the seasons ended for some of the shows I was devoted to, I decided not to find a summer substitute and to spend more time reading. I really love to read anyway, so this was not hard to do.

The books I read this summer were really great. I love a good story and I must say, all of these were winners.

So, when I look back on this wonderful summer, I can really say that I thouroughly enjoyed myself and accomplished a lot of the things I wanted to do. Lots of knitting, lots of reading and great great fellowship with family and friends. I will post a summer wrap up next and include some more knitting content!

Oh, just to throw in a little bit of knitting content:

My Granny Square Throw

I am waiting for some more white yarn so that I can finish this. But it will be finished soon!

Toodles for now!

PS: If you are like me and you like to read, like to knit and even like to read stories with characters who knit, these books are for you:

Knitting
Family Tree
Friday Night Knitting Club

And bonus! I read somewhere that there are some patterns based on the projects the characters "Family Tree" knit.

Happy Reading!

Vacation Wrap Up (Including knitting content!)

2007-08-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

So, as I was saying Chicago was fantastic! We had a blast. Spending time with friends and family is always good. We drove around Chicago on our first night and I was so mesmerized. I thought, I could move back here! Then, I remembered the winter. But, I talked about that already.

So, my mother gave a us an awesome backyard BBQ! Friends and Family were there in abundance and so was the food. Darn, I should have taken a picture of the food! Ya'll would have been salivatin'! Anyway, my mother THROUGH DOWN!!!!!!! We had: barbecued ribs, hot links, chicken and Italian sausage and some rib tips, spaghetti, greens, potato salad (courtesy of me!) and an incredible peach/pineapple cobbler!!!
All I can say is "mmmm mmmm GOOD. (Diet was out the window!). There was so much food that my husband thought that we would be eating leftovers for days! But, boy oh boy was he WRONG! There was none left! Not even a bone. I am telling you that the pots looked like someone had liked them clean. And as good as her sauce was, i would not be surprised if someone did. Really though, as the old folks used to say, My mother Put her FOOT in that food! (that means it was exceptionally good for those of you not familiar with the saying)My husband thinks she should come to Cali and open up a place and sell her BBQ. We have yet to find anything here that comes close to what we get at home. To top it all, she used an old grill, one those made out of the old fashioned garbage can barrels. It was so old,that the bottom was just about completely out of it. She just put some of those aluminum pans in it and kept right on cooking. WE had to throw it out afterwards though. It lived a good life. RIP Good Grill.......

Anyway, you know you are getting old when the kid's are teaching you how to do the latest dance. This is me, trying to the the Cupid Shuffle:

it was dark already in the yard. that's me in the white shorts. Notice the concentrated look on my face. I have always been slow to pick up the latest dances. But I go this one!

We really enjoyed spending one full day downtown. We saw Millennium Park for the first time. Check us out at the BEAN. This is a picture of me taking a picture of our reflection in the bean:

Here is the bean from a distance. I cannot recall the real name of this piece, but you can see why everyone in Chicago calls is THE BEAN.

And this is a great shot of the Water feature they have there. See the face. The image continuously changes. The faces are of Chicago Citizens. My sister's brother in law is one of the faces. apparently they just walk up to different people on the street and ask if they can take their picture for this art piece. In person, you can see that the image is behind clear glass bricks with water running down it continuously. Its really cool.

I will end my vacation talk for now. I will blog later about my weekend in Palm Springs. But for now I have one word: HOT! I was a bit miserable.

Knitting:

This is where I am at:

For my swap partner:

Mandy's Candy Bag pattern was written by

Amanda. She is running a contest and this is my entry!

Not to bad for my first one! Amanda has a great blog. Check her out when you get a chance.

Oh, and I got this yellow yarn at the yarn shop in Long Grove, Illinois.

I made this pretty quickly:

its from this pattern:

baby hat

This was so cute and quick to knit up that i started another one:

Oh, and I am making this sweater to match the lavender hat:

SWEATER

There is more but this is already way too long. Check back for more knitting content.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vacation Part 1

2007-08-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a lot of fun in Chicago. The only slightly disappointing thing was that i did not make it to Stitches Midwest. Bummer. But there were so many friends and family to see and so many things to do that I just could not get there. But, lucky for me Stitches West will be here the beginning of next year. Can you believe that the year is already 3/4 of the way over?!!?

Any, since I did not get to go to Stitches Midwest, I made my way to two LYS.

I bought some yarn for an upcoming swap and a nice pattern I will show you later. I am planning to knit this one for my BFF in Chicago. This is the shop:

This shop is in Long Grove, Illinois. Its a great little town. Check it out:

The Village of Long Grove.

Its such a girly place with cute little shops and nice restaurants. My great friend and I spent the day there until it started pouring down rain! Oh well, at least I got my yarn!

This shop is in downtown Chicago and I bought a little yarn from there as well.

I did not catch the graffiti on the door until after I saw the pic. Well, its sort on on the low end of downtown Chicago. But the shop and the people were very nice. I would say a good time was had by all because I had my husband, sister, neice, neice's friend, another friend and her son with me. While I was at the yarn shop, they were all eating pizza next door, accept for my hubby and my sister, they hung out with me at the yarn shop.

Here is their site:

Loopy Yarn

This was a fun filled day spent downtown. There is so much to blog about this trip so I will stop here and post again soon with more news or the trip and some knitting progress reports as well.

have a great weekend! thanks for stopping by.

Legacy

2007-08-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

legacy: anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor

Well, I am back from my vacation. It was a great visit. My husband and I are originally from Chicago, so we spent the last week there seeing family and friends and just falling in love with the city again. We have never gone back in the summer since we moved to LA, only at Christmas. And if you know anything about Chicago, you know that the weather is CRAZY in the winter time. So, we never go anywhere when we are there. This is what its like:

So you can understand why we pretty much stay in the house when we go in December.

But summer is another story. We had a blast. My mother had a backyard bar-b-que and many friends and family came over to see us. Well, you know how it is when you get around family. You get to hear all the great stories and family lore. Sometimes you learn something surprising. As I was looking through an old photo album that belonged to my grandmother, I noticed a small clipping taped to the front. Mind you, I have looked at this same album a million times over the last 3 decades and have never noticed this clipping. The clipping revealed to me that my great aunt, Janie L. Lester had earned a Bachelor's Degree from Spelman College and a MA from the University of Wisconsin. It also stated that she was the head of the Language Arts Dept, but it did not say at what institution. When I asked my mother about it, she said that she was the Dean of Women at Georgia State College, now Savannah State University. I was floored. I have heard countless stories over my life time, lots of them funny, some of them sad, but all of them interesting. But I had never ever heard this one. If you have read my blog before, you know that I am an African American. To have a great aunt accomplish something like this in the time in which she did it is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a story that my family needs to tell. But to tell it, we must know it. So, I started researching and have not come up with a lot, but I did find this:

This is a photo of a dorm named in her honor on the campus of Savannah State University. Unfortunately, the dorm has since been torn down. All the same, this is my family's legacy, our heritage. I was proud to be a part of my family anyway. I come from a long line of strong women. It just warms my heart to know that I was not the first to go to college and get a degree, and I am confident that there will be many more to do so in the future. My great aunt has given us this legacy to inspire us to look toward an incredible future as a family.

There is lots more to tell and pictures to post but I wanted this story to have its own place. Check back for more vacation stories soon!

July Knitting Wrap Up

2007-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

So, I did not get anything blocked or anything, but here is where I am at with my knitting projects:

Summer Tank: Finished but need to weave in the ends and block. It came out ok for my first try at an adult garment:

I made 6 out of my 8 square goal, only to realize that I am going to miss my monthly meeting with my group. we are planning to piece these together to make lap blankies. I am still trying to figure out how to get my squares turned in. Again, they have not been blocked nor are the ends woven in:

In order to make a 40x40 lap blanket, we need 16 10x10 squares. Since i did not complete enough of them to make an entire blanket I started crocheting a giant granny square. I will finish this in no time. This will be my contribution to my group's charity efforts. Hopefully, someone will get some good use out of it:

Other than knitting, my vacation in oklahoma went well. we had a great time with my mother in law. Its always hard to leave family so it was a little emotional at the end. I will be off next week to Chicago! I will definately be spending a little time at Stitches Midwest. I did not sign up for any classes but I hope to walk around and visit lots of vendors!

This weekend, my hubby and I went to The Getty Villa Art Musemn in Malibu. The place is gorgeous! Here are a few pix:

And me in one of the Gardens:

After the Getty we had dinner and saw the Bourne Ultimatim! It was great!

I am planning to visit some LYS in Chicago. I don't thing I will do much knitting while I am there but I do plan to bring back some goodies!

Adoption

2007-08-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I are about to begin an incredible journey. We are pursuing adoption!!!! We have had a lot of fertility issues and its been very very hard. But we have drawn a line in the sand after much prayer and many tears and are moving forward. And guess what? I AM TOTALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! I just want to ask for the prayers of anyone who reads my blog. Its a process and its expensive but I believe there is a child out there for us. Maybe even 2! WE are at the very beginning of this journey. I just printed out the application and will spend time during the second leg of my vacation completing it. It has taken me a long time to get to this point. I have always wanted to adopt, but dealing with infertility is super difficult and I up to now, i was not sure I was ready to pursue adoption. But something happened to me today as I was looking over a website my husband found. I saw all the descriptions of birth moms and babies and I just got this surge of excitement in my heart. I want to do this. I want to welcome one of these little ones into my heart and into my home. SO, pray for us. This is only the beginning!