Off the Shelf

I've been on a reading kick lately, brought on by some assignments as well as Pati who has been recommending some good ones lately!

Just one more book to add to the Twilight goodness! It was fun reading this before the movie came out on DVD. Gave me a whole bunch more about the books to over think!

An amazing book to read if you're in education, business, or the business of "dealing with people." It's full of aha moments!

Read for one of my classes. My mom used to read it to her class when she taught 4th grade. I never wanted to read it. I confess it was fun to read her copy seeing all her highlighted vocab words and how she purposefully stopped reading right before something important was about to happen. 

I also read this one for one of my classes. I selected this book out of the three choices because it was part of Colorado history. It was fun recognizing places we'd been. It was funny because a lot of the river names and important people were street names I recognized. 

Recommended to me. Not really...okay not at all a feel good book. BUT its written so well I couldn't stop turning the pages. I don't recommend starting it at night or you'll have to stay up reading it. Start it early in the morning, and if you need to OMG at various points, text me...or Facebook me. I was definitely sending messages to Pati saying REALLY!?!

I googled this one after seeing it recommended in one of my text books.It looked interesting. It was. While reading it had a lot of thoughts like "how bizarre." At the end I realized that we, the readers, only knew as much as the main character throughout the book. As she learned more about life, the world and how people work her perspectives started to make mores sense. I liked how they parallel it to a poem she's learning in school and as her understanding of life grows, the poem she thought was so weird makes more sense.

I found this one when I was googling Feathers. It's by the same author. It's interesting because it lines up a young girl's friendship with the timeline of the last few years of Tupac's life (first time being shot and living, imprisonment, and death.) It also examines ideas of family and living situations of young people, and why Tupac's lyrics were found to be so relatable. 

I'm Walkin' on Sunshine

Last Friday I went on a team building adventure with my credential program cohort. 

W'eve had some fantastic clusters of good weather days and it has been AMAZING!

On Saturday I was driving along and I looked up I saw my beautiful mountains in the distance. I say my mountains as opposed to the Colorado mountains that I don't quite feel at home in.

 Because of the Valley smog/fog this view is one to treasure. I used to think my mom was nuts when we'd be driving along and all of a sudden she'd exclaim "Look at the mountains!" Yah.... so what...they're mountains...

 I get it now Mom. I get it now.

 We also had individual clouds! Another rare sight to see in the Central Valley of Fresno! What do you think Grandma G?

For You My Valentine

See that diamond border indent? That is my sweat and blood friends...okay maybe not sweat but I have pricked my finger a couple times. Hand stitches=labor of love.

Bowled Over

Val and I went bowling with the NFC young adult group after meeting at Red Robin for some bottomless fries ...some of the attendees left early which is why it does in fact look like a group of leaders in this picture. I got a strike and Val worked on rolling the ball in contrast to her generally preferred walk and drop of the ball. Our mentors TRIED to teach us skills...we're going to let them be the ones with mad skill and use our scores to make them look amazing.

Like the Toilet Paper Ladies

Val and I have been quilting, quilting, quilting. So many little stitches! On Saturday we had a quilting bee at our house. Lots of people came by, some to quilt and some to visit! It was just as good to have visitors as quilters because it kept us (Val and Me) quilting. Of course I didn't take any pictures because I was quilting. Sigh. I snagged this one of a friends blog. Here I am quilting with her little one. :) Making impressions on the future!

Mostly Foggy with a Splash of Orange

The thing that has started to absolutely drive me nuts about Fresno is that we have the grayest days. 

 The days when the sun shines and the skies are real blue (like in CO and ID) are few and far between. I always seem to forget this until the moment I'm on my way back

 It's so gloomy. It makes you want to stay under the covers. It makes you want to hide all day long and do nothing. We've had some recent luck and some of the fog has burned off by the afternoon. If that happens my two favorite activities are sitting outside and reading textbooks between class OR sitting in the window quilting on the quilt on the quilt frame in our living room.

 On a brighter note. Those oranges I was telling you about. The ones that grow on trees at Aunt Maggies house. The ones that are soooooo good I've had about 4 a day....they're ready! Valerie went over to Aunt Maggie's and she and Tanya picked oranges for people to buy. $4 for 4lbs of amazingness. Apparently the people who owned their house before them sold the oranges and after Aunt Maggie and Uncle Mike got the house people still came by wanting to buy oranges. Now they have a whole list of people who wish to be notified when the oranges are ready! My brother-in-law Jay took some oranges back to Colorado last year. He used them to bribe secretaries and campus monitors at his school. Thats how good they are!

They can be found at this address during the work week:

2738 West Bullard Avenue

Fresno, CA 93711-2212 

and next door during the weekend. The key is to look for the wooden sign. 

If you drive by and the sign is covered up that means they're out of picked oranges and they haven't had a chance to pick more. If you're really desperate or made a special trip for oranges, stop by and see if you can still get some. 

One In Every Color- Legos

It's so fun to know that I will forever have a place in each one of your hearts as the "One in Every Color Girl!"
The Isaac family went on a winter break adventure to Lego Land and brought me back this souvenir! Lego's in Every Color! I cant wait to expand my husbands childhood collection to include Pink and Lime Green!

A Machine

Today I attended a class at Quilter's Paradise, in Clovis, to teach me all about my recently acquired (from my mom) featherweight sewing machines! My cousin Tanya suggested that I go, and having recently had a scare thinking I would have to pay someone to repair my machine, I decided this $28 class would be WELL worth it. It was. My machine runs like a dream now! I can't wait to get to work on the other one I have in Colorado!  (Should you wish to explore Quilter's Paradise's website and class schedule click here)
My cousin Tanya, using her headlamp to get ALL the gunk out of her machine and oil it!

 While at Quilter's Paradise I came across the most amazing fabric! (Seriously, you cant go in and not look!) Anyway, it's argyle!!!! AND one in every color! Look how well it goes with scraps from our wedding quilt!

See so it's the best of both worlds. It's a fun new fabric, but I'm also stash busting in a major way!

Another highlight of my day! I got to meet my good friend Chris's !FIANCE! Brittany! (Finally! A. I'd been wondering when he was going to pop the question and B. She's from a different city and we kept missing each other!) She's definately a kindred spirit! The coolest part: She's getting into quilting! She met me at the Quilter's Paradise after my class and that afternoon she came over to our apt and I was able to share some of my mom's beginning stuff with her! I also passed on one of Mom's project kits. I did have ulterior motives though. I'm trying to make sure she get's all the way adicted to this colorful hobby!

First Day

of school tomorrow. First time ever being excited since Kindergarten. (Since I was a kindergarten student...just to clarify.) I suspect the feeling will last 5 minutes into my first class. We'll see.

I tutored today. I enjoy it a lot.

Also. If you're a family member who knew my Grandma Peggy way back when before she was married with children, I found some photos in a "special purple box."  I may call on you in the near future to help me identify who's in them, why there there, and what the picture means. I'm in the process of scanning them and uploading them onto Flickr where comments can be added and I can gather ALL your input. Be warned!

If Only Life WERE Like a Box of Chocolates

Val and I came upon a box of See's Chocolates for Christmas. While some people embrace taking life/chocolate as it comes. I personally prefer to use the tools available to know what's coming...and avoid nasty surprises.

I still "play the game" more or less, choosing the ones I would choose first if I didn't know I could cut them open. I confess, it's rather satisfying knowing that I wasn't the sucker eating the one I didn't want.

Even more, one man's refuse is your sister's treasure.

Now if only we could find a way to get a sneak peak at life's surprises.

Hootin' Hollerin' Good Time

I flew into Fresno Jan 5th. I had to wait in Phoenix for too many hours because there was fog in Fresno. Blah. As the captain announced we were beginning our decent I looked out the window and thought, "It's too beautiful for a fog delay." I looked down and saw the ocean of clouds lapping at the mountains. Oooooh. Ick. My mood sank with the plane as we lowered into the gray that has persisted since I landed.

 On the bright side, I sat next to a man in charge of growing pistachios, tomatoes, and asparagus of all things. I LOVE asparagus. He told me about harvesting it. He also said I have about a month and a half/two months to wait before the local, tender shoots will be in season. Sigh. BUT ya know what IS in season? Or REALLY close....Aunt Maggie's Citrus! YUUUUUM! You can't find citrus like this anywhere else folks. Or at least not in Idaho or Colorado. I like it best at the beginning of the season when its still pretty tart.

 Matt came into town the day after I did. He and Val put together one of their Christmas presents. A gingerbread house. It's sort of their tradition. It's the funnest thing to listen to/watch.

 Another day on his visit, I heard them hootin' and hollerin' about SOMETHING. I stuck my head out my room and this is what I saw:

 They were playing memory. Under the quilt. Because where else would be more fun.
 Note: The hootin' and hollerin' was because Val is a vicious cheater at memory. And all other games for that note. Primarily avoid Memory and Monopoly.

There was another form of hootin' going on in the apartment. I finally finished an owl quilt I had purchased the fabric or a while back.

 I also finished it's fraternal twin. I had purchased enough fabric for a twin size quilt, but decided that a twin size quilt would be too much for a toddler watching TV. SO I split it and made two lap quilts. The recipients are to be determined.

Ps. JUST tried the Tomato Basil Soup from Costco....LOVE it. So good. Delicious. My new food weakness. I wonder if it's healthy. It's organic. That's gotta count for something.

Love Hate Thursday

One of my favorite blogs to read posted Love Hate Thursday. She asked us what some of ours were.  I thought, "Sure, I can come up with a couple." and then I had so many I thought "I'm practically writing a blog post as a comment." Then I thought of the friend who tells me I'm slacking when I haven't written a post. So I'm on it. Here's my Love Hate Thursday. Share yours in the comments!


Love:Subbing in an AMAZING 5th grade class today.

Hate:Leaving my husband yesterday.


Love: When I asked a 5th grader what he was doing at the fish tank today, he said "I'm trying to make the fish talk to me." Oooooook class. On to problem 5.
Hate: That it's warmer in Colorado Springs. Pretty much the only reason to live in California is that it's warm.


Love: Driving my zippy little car again.
Hate: When I drive Luke's low riding car (that he likes to lean back and stretch out while he drives in) I have to scoot forward so far just to reach the pedals that my forehead hits the windshield.


Love: That my apartment in Fresno is only on the 2nd floor.
Hate: That I'm not in the third floor apartment in CO Springs with Luke.
 
Love: Doing 5th grad math.
Hate: That I can't figure out the thing that will make it click for some of my students. I know it's there.
 
Love: Working on stuff in Elements. I've got so many projects going on there its crazy. I think my computer needs more memory.
Hate:That my computer needs more memory.
 
Love: That my sister brought me an amazing argyle quilt pattern from her boyfriends mom.
Hate: That its full of 60 degree angles and I've sworn them off with a vengeance.
 
Don't forget to share yours!

Baby It's cold outside!

It was a beautiful morning here in Colorado Springs! Perfect for getting all my errands done. Boy was I deceived. By 1:30 snowflakes started to fall. I thought they might slow down or stop.Wrong again. By now I still needed to drive across town to get home! Thanks to my practice in Idaho I made it home fine. One of Luke's co-workers brought him home. (We're sharing a car since I flew to Colorado for my visit.) We were just getting started on dinner when I remembered I left one of my bags from the store in the car. I looked imploringly at Luke hoping he might offer to run outside and get it for me. No such luck. I opened the door to go fast and at the shock of the cold I slammed the door again. I tromped back to the closet and got my big white jacket. Then I put on snow pants, mittens, and a hat.

Luke watched me from the window and chuckled.

The view from our apartment the next morning was beautiful.

Christmas Day