A week Late, But Finally Some Pix!

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!

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

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

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!)

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

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

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!