Thursday, September 30, 2010

Quilt Camp Keola 2010

I took a big trip to CA to get some stuff arranged for school and to take care of family stuff. One of those family stuff things included celebrating Val's birthday! (With our chosen sisters!)

The weekend was spent up at Huntington Lake, CA primarily to take my mom's ashes to their final resting place (with my family <see here for my dad's post>) but the nice perk was that I got to hang out with these wonderful women!
 I wish I could say that I got a ton done but I had some major sinus issues and mostly just sat there(I did a little knitting). It was nice to be there with my friends (and family) though!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Second Shrug (Vest)

So my sisters birthday was coming fast. I wanted to make her something. I went into the yarn store (Holly Berry, in Colorado Springs)  for some inspiration and I found an awesome sweater. The catch: the yarn was really really really expensive. I think I thought about it there for almost two hours. I really liked the pattern. I decided to go home and think about it. When I got home I checked out my stash and I found some fuchsia pink yarn I had purchased when I first learned to knit. Just the right weight! Not quite the right color.
 I dyed one end of the skein with orange Kool-Aid and the other with purple. This left some of the fuchsia in the middle. Yay! I got to make my pattern and make Val just the project I imagined for her!

 It helps that she's a fantastic model!



Friday, September 24, 2010

Funny Friday- Kelsi

Kelsi was one of my suitemates during my exchange at the University of Idaho. She is probably most responsible for my relationship with Luke! Kelsi loooooooves the color pink and will be down in history books for her princess themed room freshman year. She also got Jenny and me heavily involved in residence hall government which led me to stay in Idaho for another semester as a Resident Assistant!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pondering Production- Clean Travel

The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary. ~Mary Kurtz

This is most true about what has happened in the last 5 days before my 6 day trip to Fresno. Generally before I leave on a substantial trip I like to clean things u, do a little laundry, so that when I come back I'm relaxed and able
to spend a bit of time recharging before I head back to work or life or whatever.
 
That did not happen at all. I have been trying to finish up some projects to be delivered and contemplating what projects to work on while at a quilting retreat at Huntington Lake.  Toss some last minute packing, familial chaos, leaving at 4:30 AM to get to the airport and our apartment sort of looks like a war zone. (Mostly my fault.) Luke is going on a hunting trip with his dad for a couple days though, so I don't feel TOOOOOO bad.

Now I'm sitting in the airport, my flight having been re scheduled twice. Thinking of all the things I could have done with this extra time. Primarily thinking of sleep.

For now I guess Ill resign to what this unknown person once said: "Stitch your stress away." Don't mind if I do. :)

Monday, September 20, 2010

Drive Me Crazy

I have encountered more distinctively bad drivers here in Colorado Springs than anywhere else. Its driving me nuts. On the way home Friday one woman turned right in front of 3 cars who had the right of way (me included)  making an unprotected turn and then had the nerve to honk at US halfway through her turn while we were all stopped in the middle of the intersection to let crazy through. Well she sort of just went and we stopped to avoid having to deal with her in the future.

Also on Friday crazy white SUV made a dead stop in the fast lane during rush hour. Dead stop people, no warning, tapping of the breaks, nothing. Then they proceed to drive onto the median as if making a u-turn. Really?!

Also, yesterday Luke makes a right turn onto a busy road yesterday. The oncoming car sped up and changed lanes to give him a dirty look as though we cut him off. They SPED up?! Then over a hundred feet from the light they stop dead, yell at each other a bit and then in a very bad driver sort of way the move into the left hand turn lane. Yes, THEY disrupted the whole flow of traffic. Yes Luke and I exclaimed loudly at just how ridiculous they were.

Ugh. I'm about to drive to work. Let hope the crazies all stayed in bed this morning?

Friday, September 17, 2010

Funny Friday- Emilie


Emilie has been a good friend farther back than I can remember! Remember spaghetti Wednesdays?  Some Emilie trivia? She's going to Pharmacist School near Portland, OR and has been on the Twilight Tour in Forks, WA. Is anyone as jealous as me?

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

My Sister, My Friend

Happy Birthday to my little sister! Thanks for all your big sister advice, waking up to talk to me on the phone and for always challenging me to make my bows better! Who would have thought with all our fighting years ago, we'd get along so well now! I miss you, am sending love and can't wait to celebrate with you when I'm there!

Monday, September 13, 2010

My Cousin's Babies

They are growing in count! I've been working on some mini collections to send to them as baby gifts!
This group went to my cousin Jacquie and her not yet born baby Gracie. The yarn was hand dyed at the Keep Me in Stitches in McCall, Idaho, which is where I learned to knit. I thought this yarn would also be appropriate because they recently moved to Idaho! I'd been saving this yarn for something special! Looks like Gracie was it!  I made things in various sizes so that she could wear them at different times and not look like a grape. Also, Ill never knit anything preemie. Those kids grow too fast!
I decided this sweater needed mismatched buttons because I found ONE purple heart button that just HAD to be used. It's on the bottom, I dont know if you can tell.
My next set was for Dasch who had allready been born and I knew for a fact was growing quickly! I had seen a pattern for a dinosaur had and what else, paired with a striped sweater could scream boy more loudly?!
Im planning on putting some winter items in my Etsy shop by the beginning of November and I think a dinosaur hat will be in the mix. Theyre too fun!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Pondering Production: Keeping Kids Warm

"Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly." -Ambrose Bierce

Saturday, September 11, 2010

What a peach!

Pie that is. Luke's mom sent us home with a plethora of very ripe peaches! So, I decided to make pies with B! (And freeze some.)
I made crust with cream cheese and butter this time. Let me tell you folks, while I'm still no Jane Harms or Tracy Neufield, THAT is the way to go. The flavor is, YUM!
B really likes taking pictures and these two from his perspective crack me up.
B helped me fill the pies making sure to get just the right balance of white and yellow peaches!
And maybe a few escaped to his mouth...

 
And one more of B's photography!

*The recipe for the crust I used can be found here:*
I added a bit of milk and B added a bit of ice cold water so I could "fork" it to the side of the bowl. Otherwise it was pretty crumbly.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Funny Friday- Kyle M

This is Luke's friend Kyle. (Right) He, along with Craig and Jacob, made the trek from Eugene, OR where they attend to the "O" Duck school (I met them on the same trip Luke met Tristan and Jordan, and if anyone is going to introduce you to some great food in Eugene its gotta be them. I had the BEST calzone EVER!!! there.) Kyle graduated this June and a week later headed to South Africa where he got to be right in the middle of things for the World Cup!  He has a blog about it <here> and I encourage you to check it out!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Potty, Pies, Monuments and Hot Springs

Good News! I have success to report on the potty training front! My "charge" hasn't had an accident with me at all this week! We started last Monday people, I'm thrilled! My "most favorite" form of motivation?! Dinosaur hat. Yep he saw me knitting one for my cousin's baby Dasch and looked like he might want one too. I said, "I bet if you go potty in the potty, I could work on a hat for you while you practice!" Sold! He seemed to like the idea and requested "Bronco's Colors." (Yes, I categorize that as just as bad as the brainwashed Wiens and Mack kids.) Here he is below helping me out with the hat. He held the yarn while he waited for something to happen!
This is what he NORMALLY looks like when he's not sitting on the potty!
And here is the final product! Modeled while we waited for Luke to meet us for our tour at the Olympic Training Center!

Now, Meet Alex! She's the one holding the baby. Alex is an Au Pair from Germany. She and I take our charges lots of places together since they're cousins, close in age, and love to hang out! Which is fantastic as Alex and I love to hang out as well!
Alex joined me on a long weekend adventure to Luke's parents house (yep Luke had to work on Labor Day Weekend) where we met my cousin Jenny! (Jenny was driving with one of her friends part way to school and Grand Junction was her stop to get off!) Here is Jenny holding a Dew-licious melon as well as a cantaloupe from the farmers market!
We went to Downtown Grand Junction and meandered up and down the street. Pictured above from L-R Alex, Neola, Jay, Jenny with the Bumper Buffalo. Yep, I definitely did some yarn shopping in Grand Junctions Fantastic yarn store "Tangle."
We made peach pie with some Palisade peaches! Yum! My first crust attempt of the day: Disaster. 2nd: Better, I followed the directions. That weekend we also hit up the Colorado National Monument,
Alex learned all about hunting from John, we played Wii hunting,
and all in all we got a LOT of relaxing in!

On our way home, Alex and I stopped at the worlds largest hot springs in Glenwood Springs!
I remembered seeing them on a Train Trip my mom, sister and I took east and have ALWAYS wanted to go back and visit! We did!
On the way back we encountered a "bit" of traffic. Lets just say tack two hours onto the 5 hour trip back.
Lucky for me Alex can drive a manual car! (I guess that's all they have in Germany.) I don't think she minded driving my car too much! Especially since it's German. This road trips official song: California Girls.
And just a Grandma G style teaser, this is something I'm working on right now. Can you guess?


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

It Must Be Love When...

you come home after 4 days and the kitchen is clean, the sheets have been changed, and the laundry "did." What a guy I married.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Funny Friday- Jordan

Jordan married one of my friends since childhood and mentor since high school, Tristan.

They recently (more than 4 years ago now) moved to Salem OR where Jordan is a Youth Pasor. Tristan and Jordan were the first of my "family" to meet Luke on one of our firsts trips to Oregon. Compared to Fresno, Salem is just a hop skip and a jump to Moscow (or so it seems) and we're glad they could make it for the wedding!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Which home team?

Way back in August (okay last month) we went to see the Fresno Grizzlies play the Colorado Springs Skysox. It was a sunny day! Luke and took advantage of free parking down the road. Check out these cheery flowers! This is as close to your flower photos as I get Grandma G!
We watched the game in good fun! I ate two hot dogs and a caramel chocolate covered apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
Then around the 6th or 7th inning it started to rain. Sigh.
Sometimes you can wait it out and the weather will change, but when it started to rain harder the fans started to really jump ship!
We found a spot under cover to watch the rest of the game, and hoped they might still do fireworks. No such luck. It kept raining.
So we walked to our further away parking. In the rain. Luke says it wasn't cold. It was. Very cold.
Just in case you're wondering the Skysox won this game. I guess its okay since they're both my teams. Well more the Grizzlies to be fair.

Ps. Luke's work has offered him a spot for next summer that may or may not include a promotion. This is a HUGE compliment! Especially because they're hosting the women's open! So far the plan is to head back to Fresno where I will finish up my credential (3 semesters Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012). (I still have a scholarship there, and I would have to go waaaaay backward if I change to Colorado's program. Plus California doesn't accept Colorado's credential straight off it I want to switch.) Luke will come back to "the Springs" in April, I will join him after my friends wedding in May, and head back to Fresno in August before school. He will join me at the end of the season back in Fresno. Whew. Complicated. Though its a pretty okay situation. I know a lot of other married golf pros have much messier situations.