So Not Board

I've been working on the bulletin boards for the library and I'm pretty pleased with the results so far.














Books are so much my friends it's fun to let the art become part of life. I used a doc cam to project the image onto the wall and used pencil to create a black line drawing. Then re drew it in sharpie, cut it out and laminated it.
The quotes are white chalk on black construction paper cut down so full size white paper would be a mat.
The book covers were pulled from google images and put into word. I adjusted them to be the same size, converted them to grayscale and printed them on the black and white printer. I matted them in white so they would really stand out on the black paper. I hope to change them out regularly and encourage students to try new authors.

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No Touchy Touchy

In our last apartment our sink was outside our toilet space. Now it's not. My sisters husbands college roommate did a study on toilet spray. He keeps his toothbrush in his room. If you can believe it, I'm not going that far, but the mirror vanity is too close. So I found this on pinterest.


It took me to  and I also went to where I read all about how to make it.
Then I went to Home Depot(gasp wail, I'm a Lowe's girl) where I bought a scrap piece of wood for 51 cents, 2 picture hanger brackets for change, spray paint for 3 dollars (ish) and clamps for about a dollar each. I had mason jars at home already for another food project that didn't quite go as planned.

I painted the wood. (Apartment living has promoted creative painting strategies.)
I did have to exchange my clamps for smaller ones because I couldn't even dent let alone put a screw through the smooth metal. The slits gave me nice starter holes.
I attached the hangers on the back. Then screwed the clamps onto pre measured pre marked spots on the front. I used a drill driver to pre-make holes in the clamps on a scrap piece of wood.
Last, I slipped the jars in and viola! Huge perk for me? The jars come and and can be washed in the dishwasher! Doesn't get any better.
As for our tooth brushes? No touchy touchy. And just in time for Mark coming to live with us.
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You haven't seen many of my projects, because as it turns out they are all mostly gifts for others. In the end of July I took a major trek from Colorado Springs through these beautiful wide open spaces,


to Breckenridge where I was able to enjoy a lovely lunch with Mom's cousin Jill on her porch/deck with a view!


After lunch we got to look at many of her FAB-u-lous quilts.


FYI- those aren't large pieces they are tiny squares assembles to make a bigger picture!
Isn't this the cutest mini quilt?



Then it was onward to my In-Laws in Grand Junction where we (John, Neola, Mark, Jay and I) piled into the van and drove to Idaho.
Our first Idaho stop was at "Aunt Becky's" where we ate Luke's favorite family dish "Red Sauce". We sent him this taunting picture. Aren't we nice.


Then we were onward and upward to McCall, Idaho. I don't know how they did it but Mark and Jay played video games the whole way up.


*for the record a really long road trip is definitely a great way to get to know each other. For example, now we know that one of us should no longer eat dairy, and required to submit window roll down warning, another will no longer be given Dr Pepper and another will no longer be choosing restaurant seats as they have strategically attempted to freeze us out under vents. *
In McCall I got to make a pilgrimage to my knitting home shop Keep Me in Stitches and


visit the woman who changed my life by teaching me to knit! Thank you Lynda!!!


I just love the way she arranges yarn chromatically.
While I was hanging out at Lynda's Mark was busy getting engaged to his girlfriend Madison!


Here they are shortly after when they came to pick me up for dinner! Check out those grins!


Jay was pretty much ready to take this guy home with him and I worked hard to match his outfits all weekend.


My fingernails, his glasses shorts and shoes.
It was quite a bit of driving but a great weekend trip!


On the school/teaching front, I was in a bit of a pickle. I've been stuck waiting for teaching credential/license paperwork to go through and because it wasn't all cleared I was getting pulled out of the job pools. The jobs I was getting through for weren't especially good fits. I decided to start volunteering at schools within 15 minutes of a drive from our apartment and get to know which ones I felt were a really good fit.
My first day at one of them I was told of a posting for library aid that would be going up amd that I should apply. It turned out the school was a total kindred spirit school. It's amazing how much offering to volunteer can tell you about a place. I had one school tell me they didn't need volunteers. What school doesn't need volunteers?! I was offering to do ANY-thing!
Anyway, I got the job, and they're giving me lots of opportunities to still practice my teaching and my first day was fantastic. I'm still doing some volunteering do I can continue to get to know the school better and I'm loving it!
I'm more tired than I've been in a while but it's truly a good kind of tired.

During all the various job interviews and after the big trip, moved! (As if everything else wasn't enough.) We moved from our third floor one bedroom apartment into a third floor 2 bedroom apartment in another building.
Ill be honest, I thought it would be easier than it was. It turned out to be a LOT of work. The bonus of moving? We got a few...ok four... Pieces of furniture from Ikea. We'd held off so we wouldn't have to move it in, assemble it, and then move it again.


When we had our old apartment inspected, she said it was the cleanest apartment shed ever seen! A feather in my cap to be sure! Check out my pretty vacuum lines!


This pretty guy came from the Grand Junction Nickodemus family as a housewarming!


I got a back to school hair cut.


Home Depot actually got favor points from me for being able to cut 4x4s into 8 inch bricks. Lowe's didn't have the capacity.


I've been pinteresting up our apartment in anticipation for Mark joining is in Colorado Springs for HIS new job as before and after school program director.


You know that whole severing a wine bottle with nail polish remover? It totally works.


Woohooo!


AND I'm officially official. I have keys!


Whew! Big update but I think you're all caught up!
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He Reads

Much has been happening lately and I WILL catch you up, but as I sit here in the Police Department waiting to get finger printed for the third time in the state of Colorado I am particularly thinking of how glad I am to have married a man who likes to read.
I'm brainstorming for some bulletin boards for the library and I'm trying to balance my approach for boys and girls. Luke suggested Tolkien and I said, that's a little high dontcha think. He said "No, I started reading them in 6th grade." Well melt my heart and call me smitten!
He is guy who appreciates having a hard back set of a book series displayed on the shelf, and shares my dream of dark wood shelves filled to the brim with much loved books! When we rearrange rooms and furniture he helps me make sure my mother's an grandfathers much loved books are in a spot to avoid the sun and "elements." So yes, swoon, I married a man who reads.

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Argyle Quilt

For a golfer baby.











Pattern adapted. Machine quilted by me!
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Drapey Goodness

Congratulations are in order for Cami! She is one of my "knitting children" (I taught her how to knit.) 

A couple weeks ago or so, she finished her first project for her! 

It's a delicious drapey cowl! I'm telling you peeps, just feel the yarn. Its yummy. 

That is, in fact, how Cami became converted to knitting. (Converted from not knitting.)

 She likes yarn. A lot. She'd probably much rather touch the yarn than knit it.

 We came up with this project so that all she has to do is knit knit knit it up and then she can wear it, and feel it and love the yarn! Heres the pattern: Cast on approximately 130 sts. Knit in the round until you run out of yarn. Bind off.

Fabulous eh? I almost swiped it.

That day we spent together we also had a green meal. Green in color not so much in health.
Pasta with pesto, cucumber with lemon and red pepper, zucchini cooked in flavor infused olive oil with basil and garlic, and green apples pan cooked with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Yum.

In the morning when walking to the Farmers Market we saw this fabulous house. I was ready to move in. I loved the blue and white. The gingerbreading. The gradient blue at the peak of the roof. The window boxes and the chairs on the porch. Was ready to open the gate, go into the kitchen and get some iced tea and start knitting with Cami right there on the porch.
Then the owner walked out and I thought he might mind. We did tell him we loved his house.

Egg Me On

So, a friend in my knitting group calls herself an Urban Farmer. She has chickens. She called them darling little chickens but let me tell you folks. They're not really little. 

 They DO however, lay blue and peach colored eggs. Way cool eh? Anyway at knitting they always talked about how super farm fresh eggs are soooooo much better. I'm intrigued. My friend gave me two eggs to try and when my brother in law was visiting we egg-sperimented.

 Urban farm fresh eggs on the left. Costco eggs on the right

.Luke and Mark both voted for the urban farm fresh eggs. When I told them which were which they said it was a poor test because the farm fresh eggs were cooked second and had more salt. Ill agree they were probably right, but the farm fresh eggs did have a much better texture.

While the jury is still out on the eggs, I'll admit, chickens just might be in our future. I wonder how they'll get along with the alpaca?

Pinteresting

Pinterest. Known for being time consuming wasting. Yet, it has actually made a nice little impact on my domestic life as of late. Luke seems to have reaped the benefits as well.

See pizza braid:

 Half pineapple and ham, half pepperoni and olive.

 And dessert. Since I had a bit of extra dough and one VERY ripe peach with some cinnamon and sugar on the bottom.

 I also saw this idea on Pinterest. Oval shaped tension rod under the sink to hang spray bottles. Brilliant.

 Oh, and these FANTASTIC brownies are the result of taking what I like from a few different recipes on pinterest and one from Pioneer Woman. Sooooo gooooood!

We had the brownies at Nerd Night on Friday. These brownies will make you friends in ANY new crowd!