I'm A Machine

A machine quilter! Hahaha Grandma Dotty, of the North Fresno Quilters, gave me some quilt tops to free motion quilt. I'm quite pleased with the results.





And the back:


Here's the other one. It's made with batik's. Tanya found the perfect variegated thread!











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Happy Hatter

I've had hats on the brain as of late.
Out of appreciation...





Out of precious inspiration and special yarn:


Out of fun!


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Gold Star Sort of Day

What a wonderful day!!
So far, I have made it to my test.  (An accomplishment on its own as many of you know.)
I was there on time. (There was some discrepancy on the printed admit slip. They said Report at 8 in big bold letters, and then in tiny letters said to get there 30 minutes early. Contradictory? I think so.
Anyway, I took all the sections, almost fell asleep, and PASSED! With flying colors. Like seriously, the margin between my scores and the pass number made me smug. Very smug.

Then I went and picked up some Jamba for me and two very deserving mothers (one just became a mother and the other a grandmother to her first grand daughter!) (Who also sometimes read my blog and never comment. But I like them anyway!) I also am in love with that afore mentioned daughter/granddaughter! She is so tiny and precious! And Cah-yoooooote! Oh she is so cute! With the most elegant long fingers! Anyway yah. I told her mom, "thank you for having a fabulous baby so that I don't have to." In other words, Luke and I are  very much enjoying enjoying other peoples babies (shout out to Gabriel and Mackenzie too!) for the next ten years! ;)

Then I tromped around at Fresno State making sure I have all of my ducks in a row and I have an advising appointment as well. I don't even think class tonight will phase me.

And when I'm done, I'm going to go to the gym. Without complaining. Because after, I'm totally getting some chicken nuggets to celebrate my faaaaaabulous day! The only thing better would be heading home to Lukiepoo after. Alas, cake and eating too? Haha. You can't stomp on my mood.

Slug

Got home from my first day of placement. It was cold so I got in bed because bed was warm. Big mistake. I needed to go to the gym. My body got mad at me for being a slug. On the verge of sleep. Almost dozed. Jolted out of bed, said forget Zumba, I'll never make it til 6:30. Went and am ellipticaling.


Now, all I can think of is dinner (wanting something soooo not good for me) and sleep. Ugh. Big tests tomorrow. At least I know I'll go to bed early. Now what for dinner.
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In the Zone

I'm in my laaaaaast seminar of the week. I'm zoning.


Things I'm thinking about:
-How happy that picture on my planner makes me.
-I love Luke.
-I'm hungry.
-but not stomach hungry, or even energy hungry. Mouth hungry. For flavors.
-I'm really not sure what flavors I want.
-dinner possibilities. Pizza? It's Friday. Isn't Friday dinner supposed to be indulgent.
-I probably shouldn't eat the amazing Costco Mac and Cheese two nights in a row. Cheese, lactose intolerance meh
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Cheers and Sneers

Cheer: Fresh clean flannel sheets and a neatly made bed.
Sneer: My Thursday night class that goes til 9:50, therefore keeping me from said bed and sheets.
Cheer: a super enthusiastic professor with similar ideas to me.
Cheer: Useful seminars pre student teaching.
Sneer: We have to worry about children getting abused and therefore attend a seminar on mandated reporting.
Cheer: Having nice things to put on my resume.
Sneer: assembling said resume.
Sneer: Beginning of the semester parking mess.
Cheer: Tomorrow is Friday.
Sneer: I will still have to pry myself out of bed.
Cheer: I made an apt to have my car worked on Saturday.
Sneer: Those things often cost more than tests and cameras.
Cheer: They usually vacuum and wash my car after maintenance.
Cheer: I will be teaching knitting on Saturday morning at 9 am at the new Starbucks. All are welcome. Even other crafts.
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Cameras Worth of Tests

Ooof. What a beast of a day. Hiring-ish seminar in the morning, quick trip to to bookstore, afternoon seminar on PE. I didn't even have time to get my medical excuse. Ok it wasn't too bad, and I only pretended to have a question to get out of group jump roping.
Another quick break and it was time for my Wednesday night class. Ooof.
My prof recently moved here from Eugene, OR. I had done a little hand wave of yay and she's like "Did you live there?"
I said "no but they have great yarn shops and this fantastic calzone place." She seemed a bit taken by surprise. She'll get to know me soon enough.
When I got home I registered for some of my last tests. By some I mean 6. Next Wednesday I begin my Praxis tests which are the tests Id need for Colorado and Idaho.
Really, the most depressing thing is that for these blasted tests in all the subject areas for two states I will have handed over the money equivalent of a really. Really. Really. Nice camera. And lens. And class. Alas. Someday. Hopefully, in May, I will be allowed to pay more money to ask "them" to let me teach.

I love the kids. I live for the aha moment. Sharing a love for learning is priceless...

Speaking of the kids. This semester they will not be Jr. Highers as requested. Boo. However, they will be 5th graders. At least I know I'll like them. Or for sure enjoy the subject matter.
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Sauronistic Semester

Blecharrrggh. My day. I'd been in so much denial about leaving it didn't hit me until last night. We had watched Lord of the Rings on mute while he recited most of the lines and described what was happening and what was left out/the movie didn't flat out say. Speaking of which, is the blog title appropriate or did i butcher that which is LOTR. Baby steps folks. That movie is a plain example of the power of music. Anyway. We finished the movie and Luke said "You should probably pack tonight." Gasp, ugh, noooooo. Reality was upon me. It was especially not pretty at 5:00 AM. Mountain Time. It had snowed and was still snowing a bit when we left. I got to the airport at 7ish. It was stinking cold outside and totally cramped on my mushy sentimental goodbye. Reality of departure and therefore separation set in. My flight was late. I missed my connection. I spent way too many hours in airport chairs. I missed Luke. I just about finished a delicious project made with scrumptious yarn(merino wool and alpaca). Yep I use food words for good yarn.
I tried to deal with some school issues from another state away.
I may or may not have teared up a couple times.
12 hours later I was away from airport and airplane.
Fresno is cold and wet and I haven't seen it in the day yet but I'm pretty sure it's gray too.
My school semester looks like doom and gloom.
I will be on campus tomorrow from 8 am-10 pm. Don't worry. We get 30 minutes for lunch.
One of my seminars tomorrow is on PE. I haven't had time to get a doctor note.
I want to go back.


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Phantom Canyon So Gouda

We're still on our restaurant exploring kick. After church we went to Phantom Canyon Brewing Co. downtown. It's a repeater. The menu was a bit limited but it was a good lunch and somewhere I'd take beer interested people like my dad, Uncle Jim, or Luke's friend Kyle, or some New Years beer tasters I know. Anyway the point is, it's right up a lot of people's alleys.


Luke had a 1/2 lb buffalo burger with fries on a pretzel bun. He also happens to be a mustard fan and really enjoyed adding some of this Rail Yard Beer Mustard.


I tried two of the soups. The soup of the day was a Zucchini soup that had a bit of spice. Very yummy! The other was one of their specialties and was a Gouda and Pale Ale soup. It had some potato as well. The flavor was amazing and very rich. So rich in fact that I had some trouble finishing. I may have over stepped some boundaries as I suggested to the server that it be served with a small side of grapes or apple slices.
We finished off with a house rootbeer float. Yum yum!
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A Fun Hat This Is

One of my buddies Levi has recently gotten pretty interested in Star Wars. I had seen a cool Yoda hat pattern on Ravelry (Facebook for knitters) and post it noted that in my brain to e made for him. Well apparently the Star Wars trend extends to young people everywhere as all the first and kindergarten kiddo were referencing it left and right. It was high time I educated my self in Star Wars. I'd seen bits and pieces but not all 6 all the way through.
So Luke and I began watching the movies and I began Levi's hat.


I think it turned out quite well, don't you? It's felted which means I knit it real big and wash it in hot and cold water to make the fabric more dense and a different texture. Essentially this is what happens when you accidentally put wool sweaters in the wash. Here are some pictures of the process. This is the swatch I used to see what would happen to different kinds of stitches.


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Bronco Baby, Niners Win, Wounded Warriors

I have a new baby cousin! A darling baby girl was born last Monday. Her family is a Bronco supporting family and so in honor of the Broncos win the day before her birth I began work on this oversized granny square baby blanket.


Unfortunately the Broncos lost their last game but I'm sure her family was so busy looking at her it didn't matter. She's real cute folks.
And let's be honest were just happy the 49ers made it one more round. Luke has been a fan since he was a kid. His mom went and found his old Jerry Rice jersey. He wore it almost every day one summer. I'm excited because we think it will fit me!

The squares in the top of the picture are squares I made for the Afghans for Wounded Warriors Project. I used up all of the yarn exactly! It was perfect!

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One In Every Color-Soup, Zipper, ice cream, cereal

One of my previous years Camp Keola co-workers Kara made this fabulous one in every color food creation. I spied it on Facebook and had to ask of I could blog it!

Rainbow Soup


From l-r it has 1/2 a purple turnip, 2 purple carrots, 1 handful of snap peas, 1 broccoli stem, 4-5 small yellow and orange carrots, 1/3 orange bell pepper, and 1/2 red bell pepper.


For the rest of the soup she added 1/2 lb Wizzard Blend Rainbow pasta, and 1 shredded chicken breast.

For the broth:
1 onion, 4 celery stalks, a handful of rosemary, oregano, thyme, a big pinch of salt and pepper, cumin)

What a great one in every color idea! Thanks for sharing Kara!

Some one in every color recents slurped from other places.


Left: From Val's boyfriend of like 10 years. Can I just call him my Brother in Law yet? It's basically like a common law marriage.
Upper Right: Conversation between me and Luke
Me:woah! Where do you think they got that? I wonder what flavors it is?
Luke: It's play dough.
Me: oh.
It's by pink_explosion on instagram.
Lower Right: just makes me happy. We don't buy fruit loops so I never get the chance to make happy art. Oh well. I'll enjoy hmilazzo's instagram picture.

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Happy New Year

Disclaimer: Old computer kaput. New computer purchased on year end sale. Took a bit to get the letter together and out. Took a bit to catch the blog up. All caught up. Those of you who sent us your Christmas card have been put on "the list" and got a hard copy of the letter. Those of you who "follow" get a digital copy. Should you want a hard copy, send us your picture next year!

Good Eats, Watches, Read, Project

Luke and I are trying to be more purposeful about exploring local restaurants. Our location is a hop skip and a jump from down town and old town so you'd think we'd have been more on top of that. Today, we used the Urban Spoon app spinner and went for it. We ended up Down Town at a place called Nosh on the bottom floors of one of the big buildings right by the Pioneer Museum. We loved it! The flavors were amazing!


Luke had a spicy bison sandwich (top), I had a mushroom Swiss burger with rosemary potato chips and for dessert we got a trio that included a Black Cherry Orange Labna Parfait, Chocolate Pudding with seasonal fruit purée and chocolate pop rocks and my personal favorite Caramel Oreo Cheesecake Pop. So. Good.


Then we went and picked up IV, V, and VI so I could watch 1-6 all the way through. I needed a comprehensive understanding as the bits and pieces I've seen and know are no longer enough for forging academic connections. Let's call it part of the teaching credential process. Speaking of which, I recently finished another Andrew Clements book. He wrote Frindle and is super funny. This one is about a kid who explores a vow of science after researching "some dude named" Ghandi. His class has been dubbed the unshushables. Anyway, doesn't get any better than that. It's a bit slow going at first, but sets you up for the super funny end. And it's a kid level book. Quick, light read.


Sorry the pic is upside down. My phone sometimes rotates images. The backdrop for the book is a project I'm working on for my second cousin's new baby girl. I figured I'd go with Bronco's colors as they're pretty big fans and well their game closest to her birth was a pretty big success! I can't show you the whole picture yet just in case they're non commenting readers! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cable Mitts and Game Day Church

This morning I finished my fingerless mitts!


I looooove them! Worth every size 6 stitch and cable! Even worth the other thumb re-do. This evening we checked out a new church! Amazingly there were people there. (The town gets pretty empty on Bronco Game Days, we thought a playoff day would be even more so.) Turns out they had a TV on in one of the side rooms and the service started about 10 min later. We enjoyed the service and plan to check out the first service next Sunday as Luke has the day off. The irony: they were doing a shoe donation and it was Luke's first day wearing his good for his feet Christmas work shoes and I was wearing my Danskos. Sigh. So selfish. Actually not too bad though because Luke's boss coordinates the program so our goes go to them anyway! I'll let you know how next Sunday goes. We may have found our home church! Say a little prayer! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone