11.12.2011

Turning a New Leaf...Part Two



Holy Bajeezus where have I been?! Forgive my lack of blogging. I have no real excuse other than I have been busy so not only didn't have time but I also did not have much motivation. Over the last couple weeks though I have really been missing my blog like crazy. So out with the Blogging Blues and in with all the new ideas that have me literally bursting at the seams!!

First, let me start with Part 2 of Turning a New Leaf.

A. I have a new job! I actually did have another job before this one that was absolutely horrible. I worked at an Amazon warehouse for 2 weeks. I was a "picker" and wanted to die after the second day. All the walking on concrete floors for 10 hours (we were told the average picker walked anywhere from 10-12 miles a day) was murder on my feet. Even though I wore extremely comfy gym shoes it didn't matter. My legs and everything were fine, I wasn't even really that tired afterward, it was just that my feet were in excrutiating pain!! I had to quickly find another job and luckily was able to. I now work at Nestle. I'm just a temp for now but I don't care. I'm much happier than I was at The Hartford even though I make a lot less money and don't have health insurance for the time being. (I will hopefully be hired on permanently soon.) I like the job a lot so far. Right now my job consists of being in "the guard shack" which is a lot nicer than I imagined when the job was described to me! I seriously pictured some kind of toll booth situation. It's actually just a small office that is unattached from the entire warehouse. Giant tractor trailers come into the driveway and call a phone way at the end. I answer the phone and find out whether they are delivering something, picking something up, if they are coming to the Nestle building or going to the water plant. Then I do some stuff on the computer to get the info they need and give info to the people inside to let them know a truck is here. That's basically the extent of it. One awesome purk is the drivers that have dogs! When they come to the window (after they are at the phone and I get their info, I tell them to come to the window at the guard shack...think a drive thru at a fast food place) and give them their paperwork or take theirs, accordingly. Some of the drives have dogs and we give them treats, it's pretty awesome! The people I work with all seem pretty nice and even when it's busy it's not super stressful.

B. I am starting (or really want to start, it depends on financial aid) school this semester. I decided that I keep going from one crappy job to the next and need to do something about that! I looked into what kind of programs are offered at the schools around here and what kinds of jobs are available around here too. There are quite a few hospitals near me, I can think of 4 off the top of my head that are all within 10 minutes of me. When I was looking for the new job I have, I kept seeing postings for nurses but I know I could never be a nurse. I've actually even mulled the idea of it around in the past. Both my Grandmothers were nurses as well as my Aunt. I could never 1. take blood from people and 2. since my experience in the hospital and rehab after my accident and knowing all the things those ladies had to do for me, I'm not even sure I could do them for a loved one let alone a stranger! However, I do still have some very fond memories of different nurses that I've come across in my life (I've been in the hospital and gone to doctors a ridiculous amount of times in my life) and truely appreciate and respect these women and what they did for me. I would like to be a person like that...just minus a lot of the bodily fluids! Enter the "Diagnostic Medical Sonographer" program! That's just a fancy name for an Ultrasound Technician. After a lot of thinking and discussing it with Jeremy, Liz, my sister and Mom I have decided that is what I am going to do. I've even had experience with one that had nothing to do with babies. When I was a freshman in high school I had all these lumps on my neck and had to have one removed and they had to ultrasound it! I have to first complete the prerequisites and hopefully will be able to start the 2 year program in the Fall of 2013. That's the plan for now. I'm really looking foward to it!

Alright dearies, I am glad to be back and I hope you stick around for some of the fun things I have planned to share with you!!


Jamie

Turning a New Leaf...Part One


As I mentioned at the end of my previous post (so long ago) a lot of big things have happened in my life over the last 2 months. All really awesome, great, scary, different things! So much that I am going to split it up into two different posts otherwise this will turn from a blog into a novel!

So first...my mom moved to Arizona!
I may have mentioned it here once before but pretty much my whole life all I've ever heard from my mom has been "I loved training horses. I wish I could still work with horses. When I win the lottery, I'm buying a horse farm." etc.

Flash back to before I was born and she was a kid, she always had horses and worked on horse farms.
She lived in Arizona for a few years training horses but eventually came back to Jersey.
Her and my dad met while both working on a horse farm.
My mom found out she was pregnant with me because she fell off a horse and had to go to the hospital.

So needless to say, horses are a ginormous part of my mom's life. I've gone riding quite a few times, in Colorado, Tennessee, Jersey, PA, all over the place. It really is wonderful and horses are beautiful, gentle animals. I can see why people love them. It's also really fun to pretend to be a cowboy while riding LOL However, I am allergic...not to the horses themselves (I recently found out and was shocked about because anything else with fur or feathers I'm allergic to). Everything else around the horses, the hay, the other animals, the fields they live in, I'm allergic to all that and it sucks!
Actually here is a pic of me from this past Labor Day when a bunch of my family went riding together...I made that face in like half the pictures! Oh and I'm not that short, he's a clydesdale!



Anyway, my mom and her boyfriend of 13 years broke up. It was shitty so I won't get into the grimey details. My sister, her sisters and friends...we all pushed her to finally make the move out to AZ. She has gone on vacation the last few years out there to a ranch and made some friends. She was even offered a job as a massage therapist at one of the dude ranches for people on vacation. After much deliberation and what I imagine had to be one of the hardest decisions she ever made, she went. My sister drove out with her (which I will forever be jealous of) and she's been there for about 2 months now.

I miss her SO much!!! I probably mentioned it another time but my mom also worked at the same place as me and I got so used to seeing her everyday. We've been texting and talking on the phone a lot and she's been sending me pics of her new apartment. Of road runners and lizards and cacti and just all the beauty of this new part of her life. I am so incredibly proud of her. It just proves that it is NEVER too late to do what you love in life. It must be so scary for her to be by herself making this drastic change. I told her though, Jessie and I don't "need" her right now. We're grown and live on our own. We aren't getting married or having babies. Right now is the perfect time for her to go. Plus...if she hates it, she can always come home. But she will never have to regret not going or constantly having those nagging "what if..." or "I wish..." thoughts.

She is coming home for Christmas which I'm really happy about. It's just finally starting to sink in that I can't just hop in the car and be at my moms house in less than 30 minutes, or give her a book I think she'd like when I see her at work. I can't ask if I can come over to borrow her printer or if I can store something in the attic because it won't fit in my apartment. I do think that not seeing her on Chrismas would have been exceptionally hard though.

The word 'proud' doesn't really even describe how I feel about her right now. The last few years my mom has dealt with a lot of stuff and put a lot of people before herself.. First there was my accident and she had to help me A LOT, then my Nana (her mom) got really sick and passed away, her boyfriend's father also got sick and passed away, then my Uncle had some struggles of his own that my mom has helped him with. It's just time that she lives her life for herself, after all...it's the only one she's got.

I love my mother to pieces and I miss her so much but I am so glad that she made this giant move in her life!!!


It has inspired me greatly which is what Part Two will be all about...


Jamie

My Afghan is DONE!!

I am so freaking excited that I finished this last night!!! I attached the last row of squares and added the border and she is now resting comfortably on my bed. I will say that I hoped it was going to be a bit bigger, I'm horrible at measurements and things like that. It's the perfect size for a twin bed but gets the job done on my full size. This baby was a labor of love and I am so proud of her!







You can check out the progress of this afghan throughtout a bunch of different posts I did since I started her back in January.

January
January Again
February
April
May
(a few months of no progress)
October

I am so proud of myself that even though it took this long I really stuck with it. I definitely don't want to make anymore granny squares for quite a while. Between that craftster swap, the blogger blanket project and this afghan, I am all grannied out! Although...I do really want some cute granny throw pillows LOL I'll wait on that for a while though. I am now onto starting all the Christmas presents I am going to make this year. Lots of hats and scarves I think.

I also have a ton of stuff to share with you guys...so much has happened in my life over the last month. Like giant stuff!
My mom moved to Arizona.
I quit my job and got a new one (I start Sunday!) that is COMPLETELY different.
I have a new life plan and career goal that I am really looking forward to which also means I am going back to school in January.
Anyway...that is all going to be a post of it's own!

Thanks so much for popping by and checking out my loverly new afghan, have a wonderful weekend friends!

Jamie

11.10.2011

Halloween...Finally!

I know it's a few weeks late but because of the stupid snow storm we got over Halloween weekend we had to postpone our party for a week. Saturday we got all dressed up and headed out to Jersey for the 3rd Annual Rolak (Shannon and JP's) Halloween Party.
I was a skeleton, Jeremy was the Tooth Fairy and my sister was a Racoon (she has a thing for woodland creatures).
I cut out and sewed these bones onto the shirt and pants, I even sewed the cracks in my pelvis and attached a screw to the ankle where I still have one in me LOL!! I had so much fun painting my face, I followed a youtube video done by Letzmakeup. Painting my face is one of my favorite parts of Halloween. Please ignore my blue socks!! I don't have any black ones =/





This is Jeremy as the tooth fairy, this was fully his idea and the fact that he wore that tutu all night was pretty amazing!! I made that whole thing out of over 5 yards of 4 different fabrics and 15 yards of 2 different ribbons. It's so pretty in real life but I have no idea what to do with it now!



I hope you all had an awesome Halloween and now I am looking forward to Thanksgiving!!

Jamie

11.01.2011

Happy Anniversary!

I won't go into all the sappy details about how Jeremy and I are a match made in heaven or how in love we are or how we met (you can read all that here.) For now I will just say it has been a wonderful 3 years and I am very excited about some of our future plans we've been talking about! I will be sharing the details once the time gets closer...and no it's not THAT! We're planning to get a place together early next year =D



Have a wonderful day friends!

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10.31.2011

Happy Halloween!!!

Unfortunately we didn't get to dress up this year (yet). As you may have heard or experienced for yourself, the Northeast US got a freaking snow storm this past weekend. I truly thought it was going to be a bunch of hype but I was wrong, dead wrong! Friday night I went to bed pretty late and it was clear as could be out so I was sure everything woukd be fine. However, I woke up Saturday morning to snow...those big, thick, wet snowflakes. The main issue concerning the storm was that with all the leaves on the trees and all this wet snow on top of it, branches and power lines might come down and people would be without power, ugh!
Jeremy came over after work around 12:30 that afternoon. We were eating hoagies and watching The Crazies and talking about how much we wanted it to clear up for the party. Our costumes are awesome, I spent a lot of time on them and the pumpkin I carved was sure to win the contest! While we were talking, as soon as I mentioned that snow and leaf statement the freaking power went out!!! It was a little after 1:00. Jeremy needed to take a nap since he went in to work at 6:00 that morning so I just laid in bed and read all while hoping the party wouldn't be cancelled. But a couple hours later I got a text that the party was cancelled :(
Around 4:30 the power came back on so I quick jumped in the shower. Soon as I had the shampoo on my head, it went out again!! I had enough hot waiter to finish my shower but I have no windows in my bathroom so it was pitch black in there! Jeremy brought in a bunch of candles and took the shower curtain off the rings but kept the clear liner on so I could see. There was also enough hot water for him to shower but I couldn't blow dry my hair! I towel dried it as best I could but I was still freezing!! We were both hungry and our friends who still had power invited us over to play games. Across town still had power so we went to a bar over there, ate and then went to our friends house. Right before we got there half a tree fell on their house!!
Oh and before we left my place Jeremy was cleaning off his car when this chic asked to borrow his phone because her phone died and she needed to get a cab to come take her to work or she'd have to walk...with her little 2 year old daughter!! Being such a good guy Jeremy asked where she worked and offered to drive her. It was literally down the street from where we were going but even if it wasn't we would have taken her, it was horrible out and no cabs were answering.
The bar was packed because so many people were without power. We had fun playing games at Stephen's house and then around 9 we went to another bar to watch the fights. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but...I love UFC!! Watching a bunch of dudes beat the piss out of each other, it's fantastic!! Every month they have fights on pay-per-view so we have to go to the bar to watch it.
I really hoped I'd have power by time we got home but no dice. It was freezing cold in my apt so we lit a bunch of candles and put them on the coffee table next to my bed, it was like sleeping next to a roaring fire Haha!!! It was also one time I was thankful to have a boyfriend who's like a furnace.
We woke up to no power so we decided to go to the diner for breakfast (usually we make breakfast Sunday mornings). The first diner had no power and was closed, 4 others all across town had 45 minute to an hour waits. Cracker Barrel told us it would be 2 hours and 10 minutes and Dunkin Donuts was fresh out of food!! It was complete mayhem!! Finally we tried Manhattan Bagel, their power was out but they could make breakfast sandwiches on their grill still!! We had to eat in the dark but we didn't care! Then we milled around at a giant indoor garage sale to kill a few hours. When we got home, still no power! Jeremy went home to check on his place and pets (he has 2 snakes and a rat) and I just got back in bed and read and slept a bit.
Around 9:00 I was hungry and wanted to see who had power and who didn't. Let me tell you, driving around town with no lights in any houses or businesses and cops directing traffic is kind of creepy. Luckily Wawa had power so I got a sandwich and sat in my car to warm up in the heat, ate and charged my phone and ereader. The electric company said I wouldn't have power til 10:30 Monday night so I just went home, put on lots of layers, tons of blankets on the bed, lit a bunch of candles, got back in bed and read some more. I have no idea what time the power came back on but I fell asleep around 1:30am and it was still out but I woke up around 5am sweating bullets!!
So all in all I was without power for at least 36 hours and the Halloween party was cancelled. Hopefully it will be rescheduled so we can sport our sweet costumes!!
Thanks for reading this novel if you did and I leave you with a picture of (what I think would be our award winning) pumpkin!!



Happy Halloween!!


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10.29.2011

Owl Fingerless Gloves

Two years ago when I decided I needed to learn how to crochet (because I completely forgot everything my Nana taught me when I was little) the entire reason was because of these Hooked on Owls fingerless gloves by Beansprout Creations. I had bought the pattern and the yarn and thought I could just watch youtube videos to figure out the stitches that make the owl. Well...after a handful of attempts and hissy fits, I put the pattern away and just forgot about it. I realized that the stitches to make the owl were more advanced than my skills (I had only made two amigurumi's at that point) and I would have to wait a while before I could actually make these.

After I finally learned and understood how to make cable stitches for Liz's scarf and Kara's gloves, I thought I might be able to attempt these gloves again.
I had to modify the crap out of this pattern though! I used a smaller hook than the pattern called for and I had to take out about 12 stitches per round to make them fit me. I know I have small hands but the size made with this pattern is ginormous!! I also added a stretchy ribbed cuff around the wrist.




Please excuse these phone pics. My camera is being a jerk and I can't turn the flash off anymore. I know most of the time you WANT the flash to work but it was completely washing out the owl pattern. And that's the whole THING!!

Anyway...I used buttons that my mother gave me that belonged to my Nana. I painted the pupils on and I love them! I am so incredibly pleased with these gloves, I kind of want to wear them ALL the time!! I'm just so happy I was able to make them since they were the reason I started crocheting in the first place, I know enough about crochet now to be able to modify patterns to fit me, they're pefect for Fall and I was able to incorporate something from my Nana who taught me to crochet in the first place. I wish she was here even more now, just so I could show them to her <3


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10.27.2011

More Afghan News...

Not too long ago I took a look at the three goals I had set for myself for the year and realized I've really only got one and a half done!! The half being the granny square afghan I have been making for myself...since freaking January!! I've had all the finished squares sitting in a basket next to my tv stand and then another basket sitting next to my couch with all the yarns and necessities to finish the rest of the squares I needed. I FINALLY finished the last squares!
Here are some close ups of the last 28 squares. Oh and one of my Halloween rats...



This is a shot of all 88 squares, whew! I can't believe how long it has taken me to make all these!! I noticed that from the first squares to the last ones, my crocheting has gotten looser and looser. The last ones I made are about an inch bigger all around than the first ones I made. Oh well, I learned from the Blogger Blanket Project that even if the squares aren't all exactly the same size, once they are stitched together it'll be ok.




It took me a while to get the squares all laid out in a way that I thought would be random enough yet not have a bunch of the same colors all together. I really wish that I had used a lighter blue color. When you really look at it you can see the difference between the black and blue but at a quick glance they kind of look the same. Oh well, I love the colors all together none the less.

I have started sewing the squares together now. I have 5 columns of rows stitched together so far. I have 3 more to go and then I have to sew those all together. My goal is to have it finished before I host Book Club at my apartment on Nov. 6. I think it's feesable. Once I have all my Halloween stuff finished. I'm making my entire costume, parts of Jeremy's and I have a pumpkin to carve for a contest at the party we are going to. Our friends, Shannon and JP always have the best Halloween party, I'm so excited!!



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10.16.2011

Oh yeah...Goals

Half way through the month isn't too late for a recap and a new list, is it? Haha!

September Recap
Read another book of my choosing - I read A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I loved it and you can look for a review soon!
Get out all of my Fall decor and decorate - done and done!
Figure out gifts for Liz & Kara's bday - check!
Sew together swapped Granny squares - all finished!
Finish the September pick for Book Club - I never got the book and I don't plan on catching up with this one either, it didn't sound very good.
Make 3 more items for my Mystery Project - I didn't make anything =(
Announce my Mystery Project - clearly that didn't happen, it's still in the works though...

Meh I didn't do too well this month, this funk I've been in clearly effected all areas of my life!

October Goals
Read the Book Club book (it's my pick so I HAVE to)
Read another book
Work on and announce the damn Mystery Project already!!
Make my Halloween Costume.
GET A NEW JOB!!!

Not too many goals...just enough though =)

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10.14.2011

Granny Square Afghan...FINALLY!

Remember the two swaps I did for Granny Squares? There was one through Craftster that I did a while ago and then the Blogger Blanket Project that I did not as long ago. I've had a huge pile of squares sitting on my craft table for a while and last week I decided it was time I sew some of them together! I used all of the squares from my 6 Blogger Blanket Project partners and I was able to use one set of squares from a Craftster partner because her squares were a bit smaller than the 7" the others were so they fit better with the 6" BBP Squares instead.
I decided I was going to keep each partners set of squares together, I like the way it looked better than having them all willy nilly. This blanket is 6 squares by 7 and it is the perfect lapghan size. I want to bring it to work (why are offices always kept at subzero temperatures?!?) It's now on the end of my bed waiting for me to make a decision...which I need your help with!

I sewed the squares together with white yarn and I am having a hard time deciding whether I should add some kind of border to kind of pull it all together? I was thinking just a white border with the same style stiches as a granny square, 3 double crochets in each space around. What do you guys think about that? Do you put borders on your afghans if they aren't all uniform squares? Do you think that would look okay with all these different squares? I mean worst comes to worst I can just try it and if I don't like it I can get rid of the border but...I'm so indecisive sometimes!!

Anyway, here are some pics to give you a better idea of what it all looks like together. I really love every square and how they all look together. I'm so glad I participated in these swaps!





Thanks for stopping by and I'd love any of your input!!

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10.11.2011

Boo! I'm Aliiive!

I bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth, huh? I've been in quite a funk the last month or so and had no desire to blog. I've been kind of depressed about my job/school/career situation. I'm hoping to have it changed and all figured out in the next month or so, please cross your fingers for me!!
I really wasn't even doing much of anything worth blogging about anyways so it kind of evened out. The last few weeks though I've been feeling better and picked up my crochet hook again. Two of my dearest friends had their birthdays at the end of September so I'm sure that's why I got back to crafting.

Liz's birthday was Sept 20th and I made her two things that I am in love with (as well as gave her what looks like a fun game called Liebrary). Liz loves coffee, she worked at Starbucks for two years and that place definitely rubbed off on her! I've been seeing little coffee cozies around so I decided to make her one. I sewed this little guy up one night and he fits perfectly on a Venti sized cup. The button works but it's really just there for show.



I also made her a scarf which I am madly in love with! I now see many scarves in the future of those I give Christmas gifts to LOL! I've never made a scarf before and after searching Ravelry for hours and getting a basic idea of what I was going for, I decided to make my own pattern. I put two rows of Front Post Double Crochet stiches on either side of a cable stitch. It took me a little while to get the hang of the cable stitch but once I got it, I breezed through this beauty.

The cutest thing happened while making this too. I don't know if you guys are fans of stitching in public but I certainly am. I tend to crochet while waiting for my laundry or really anywhere that I think I'll be sitting around for a while. I had to get my car inspected last month and I knew I would be waiting but didn't know for how long so I packed my little craft bag with my yarn and hook just in case. I was sitting in the waiting room for about 30-40 minutes so I got a good amount done. A really nice woman was sitting next to me and first started talking to me by asking where I get my nails done (I paint my own and there was easily month old polish on them lol) and then she asked what I was "knitting". Does this happen to you fellow hookers? How do you handle it? I just smiled and said "Oh thank you, I'm crocheting it for my friends birthday. It's a scarf." I feel I HAVE to correct people or something. I can't let them go on with their lives not knowing that crochet exists!! Anyway...she said she has a few things at home that she once started and never finished but thinks she should dig them out now that I reminded her. She was really interested too, she was touching and looking at the scarf very intently and asking me all kinds of questions. I enjoyed it a lot actually, it was nice to kind of bond with this random lady over some yarn and a hook!

Anyway, I took about a bazillion pictures of this scarf to try and get some good ones (please excuse my scowl in the one of me wearing it!) The color is my favorite, it's Vanna White's Cranberry. Liz just recently starting wearing red. I tend to wear red a lot and think it always looks great on pale, dark haired girls. So once I saw she was wearing it more often I decided I had to push more of it on her =P
I think this is just such a great color for fall AND winter, it was perfect! Plus it's so thick and cozy! Also, I had no idea how long to make the scarf. I didn't want it to be too short that you couldn't get some good wrap around with it but I also didn't want it so long that it'd stick out the bottom of a jacket or something. Well after searching the internet for a bit I found the general rule of thumb is to make the scarf as tall as the person it is for. It makes perfect sense and thank goodness Liz and I are practically the same height! The color is shown the best in the picture of me, the last two I really wanted to show off the stitches but the sun kind of washed out the pic a bit.





My friend Kara's birthday was Sept 25th and I made her a really cute pair of fingerless gloves. She's always cold and smokes so I thought they'd be pretty perfect. Since I am now addicted to cable stich they had that on it. They were red with a black border around the fingers, thumb and wrist. I was pretty proud of myself making these too because the pattern I used made a gigantic pair so I had to rewrite it and take out lots of stitches and I moved the thumb hole. It's amazing when I think back to when I first started crocheting, I would look at a pattern and my head would spin. Now I'm able to write out my own!
Anyway, I'm a jerk and forgot to take pictures of the gloves before I gave them to Kara =( Hopefully I will have my camera next time I see her wearing them.

The funny thing about making all these cold weather items is that it has been ridiculously warm here the last few days, almost 90 degrees!!

It's good to be back friends, how have you all been?! I have tooooonns of blog reading to catch up on!!


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9.12.2011

Book Review: The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime


My wonderful friend Kara and I recommend books to one another all the time now. It turns out we have a pretty similar taste in what we like to read so this has worked out pretty well. A couple weeks ago I told her I needed something to read and was not interested in anything I had at home. She said she would look for something for me.  The next day she gave me her Kindle to borrow!

Last Christmas Jeremy had mentioned giving me a Kindle and I said I didn't want one. I love books! I love the smell of books, physically turning the pages, wandering around the library, book store or thrift store looking for my next favorite book. A Kindle just seems like it takes all the beauty and wonder out of reading. Kara really recommended that I read one of two of the books she has on her Kindle though. She showed me how to work the thing and I took it home with me. One thing I was happily surprised about is that I thought it would be like looking at a computer screen or my phone but it's not. The screen looks like an actual book page. It was kind of weird at first too that the pages don't have the page numbers on them.  I guess because you can alter the font size and line spacing, it could be inaccurate. Instead there is a little bar on the bottom that tells you what percentage you are through the book, I kind of love that!

Now onto the actual Book Review....


The first book I read was The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde. It was sooo good!! I found out after I finished it that it is actually the sequel to The Big Over Easy. It definitely didn't matter that I started with the sequel because I never felt like I was missing anything. The concept of the book is so funny. In Reading, England there is a Nursery Crime Division in the police department. There are only 3 members of the NCD, Jack Spratt (notice the two T's), Mary Mary (it's never mentioned but I'm pretty sure she's quite contrary) and an alien called Ashley. There are all kinds of Nursery Rhyme characters living throughout Reading and whenever there is any need for the police, the NCD are the ones on the scene. The story centers around Goldilocks' murder and an escaped serial killer, the Gingerbreadman. There is a conspiracy that Goldilocks uncovered about nuclear power available in the most unsuspecting place, cucumbers!! The book is so cleverly written interweaving well known nursery rhymes with real crime drama! It's silly yet very suspenseful, I highly recommend this book. Jasper Fforde has written a few other series' that I think I may have to look for too.

What are your thoughts on the Kindle? Do you have one? Like it, hate it? I think Jeremy may be getting me one for my birthday now that he sees I've been borrowing Kara's. Since I've been having such an issue getting certain books from the library for book club and I don't want to buy them brand new since they're too expensive, maybe downloading them for the lower price would be good? I have such mixed feelings about it still!

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9.10.2011

One last set of Granny Squares


It took me forever to post these because I have become a huge slacker at blogging recently but I received my last set of squares in the Blogger Blanket Project. I am madly in love with the color scheme Debbie chose for these. They remind me of pumpkins which therefore makes me think of Fall and Halloween!!




I can not wait until I have all the beautiful squares I received in this swap sewn together. Courtney is organizing a second swap which I HIGHLY recommend you join!! It was so fun and I met lots of talented and wonderful ladies. I'm not 100% sure if I will be participating in the second round. I have my Mystery Project to work on and then after my birthday I start working on Christmas presents so I might be a bit busy. I don't want to be the jerkface partner who isn't able to send.
 
Have a crafty day my dears!
 
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9.08.2011

September Goals

I have some big goals for this month as well as some awesome stuff I'm looking forward to, I love September!!

First up are my goals for the month...

Finish the September pick for Book Club.
Read another book of my choosing.
Make 3 more items for my Mystery Project.
Announce my Mystery Project!!
Get out all my Fall decor and decorate my apartment as well as my cubicle at work!
Figure out gifts for Liz & Kara's Birthdays.
Sew together all the squares from the Blogger Blanket Project and the Craftster swap.
Here are a few of the things I am looking forward to this month...

Spending a few days down the shore with my Dad, Lonnie (my step mom), Jeremy, Jessie and Justin (a lot of J's in the group)
Getting my tattoo finished!!!
The first day of Autumn!
and last but certainly not least...My Birthday on the 28th!


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August Goals Recap

Holy smokes I can not believe it is September!!!

Finish the zombie book I picked up at the library instead of last months Book Club book.  Here is the Zombie book review.


Read THIS months Book Club book.  I wasn't able to get this months Book Club book from the library again due to too many holds. Picking new, popular books to read for the club sucks because it's always so hard to get from the library.


And try to read another book of my own choosing.  The other book I read I looooved so much and I will be posting a review of it shortly.



Save $$ for North Carolina trip next month.  I saved the money but then our trip was cancelled because of stupid hurrican Irene. I was bummed because I love spending time with my family and we were going to spread my Nana and Grandpa's ashes in the ocean. We already have it planned that we will try again next year. The only bright side is that I am able to pay a couple other bills with that loot instead.

Make something for Mom's Birthday.  I made her this adorable baby dragon.
Send to last Blogger Blanket partner.  Done and Done!

Make at least 3 things for Mystery Project. I was only able to get 2 1/2 things finished by the end of the month.

Even though I didn't get EVERYTHING done, I got more than half so I'm happy! 

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9.06.2011

I'm Back in Black!

I just have a quick little update about my hair.... As you've seen in pictures on this here bloggy blog, I've had black hair with red streaks in my bangs and on the sides for quite a while. I really loved the red, I get so bored with my hair easily and it's something you can change all the time. One problem however is that I have gotten sick of the upkeep the red requires. It's just Manic Panic semi-permanent dye that I'd apply over bleached sections. About every 10 - 14 days it would be pretty faded out and I would have to dye it again. It wasn't a HUGE hassle. Every other Sunday or so I would spend about half an hour in the bathroom sectioning out my hair and applying the dye. I would leave it in for a few hours and then rinse it out. I would have to be careful to make sure none of my face or bathroom had dye on it because otherwise I or the sink would be stained pink for a while. After more than a year of keeping up with it, I've grown sick of the maintenance. So I decided to go all black again, much easier.


I was actually really nervous about getting rid of the red because I thought I would be bored with how I looked. However, as soon as I dried my hair and saw it all black again I felt like my old self again! I've had black hair for what seems like ever, I think first was when I was 15. I would go back and forth between black and burgundy hair over the years. The burgundy permanent hair dyes are a pain in the ass too though. They always fade into that weird brassy red color. I don't understand how people have built a plane that can literally fly 13,000 mph but no one can make a permanent red hair dye that keeps its color!! Anyway, I like black hair because it doesn't fade and most people believe it is my natural color since my eye brows just happen to be super dark as well. So here's to the old, new me!
I thought it appropriate to take a picture with my curled lip face as well.  I have no idea but for about 5 years every freaking picture I took...this was my face!  (beer and jager may have been the culprits)



Have a good day friends!

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8.25.2011

2 Book Reviews: Monster Island & Before I Go To Sleep


I finished Monster Island by David Wellington a few weeks ago and it wasn't exactly what I was expecting when I pulled it off the shelf at the library. I was in the mood for another zombie book and this came up on the library search. It is the first in a series of three books and I thought if I liked it enough, I'd read the next two. The beginning half of the book was pretty good. The basic story starts a short time after a global disaster and zombies inhabit most of the earth. A man who works for the U.N. as a weapons inspector lives in Somalia with his daughter. He and a group of teenage girl soldiers have to travel to New York City in seach of medicine for one of the countries leaders. However, NYC is crawling with zombies. Among the dead is one zombie who was a doctor in life and managed to retain his intelligence after being bitten. So far so good. Then something really weird happened and a mummy showed up who somehow could rule all the zombies with his thoughts. All the zombies had to build this shrine thing and they were going to take over the world. I don't know it got really weird with the mummies and the zombies being controlled. It took me way longer than it should have to finish the book because toward the end it was just not my cup of tea. I'm not going to continue the series and I think I'm over zombie books for a while.


I also just finished reading the book club book from July, Before I Go To Sleep by S.J.Watson. I wasn't able to get it at the library to read in time for book club but my friend Shannon let me borrow it after she had finished it. Everyone was saying how much they liked it and that the ending was a total twist so I had to borrow it!! It was most definitely a "page turner" as people say. It only took a few days to read because it was so good and suspensful I just couldn't put it down! The story is about a woman who has lost her memory over 20 years prior and wakes up every morning with no idea where she is or who the man in her bed is. We are lead to believe that she has tried all different treatments to help regain her memory but nothing works. She lives with her husband who has pictures all around the house to remind her of her life and he has to tell her who she is every morning. When I read the description it reminded me of '50 First Dates' with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. Some of the girls said it was similar to the movie 'Momento' but I've never seen it so I have no idea. Throughout the book the woman starts secretly seeing a doctor who believes he can help her. She starts keeping a journal that she writes in every day and then reads every morning to remind her of what her last few days have been like. We find out eventually that her husband has been keeping things from her, what really caused her memory loss, facts about her family, her friends, etc. The ending is soooo good and not at all what I was expecting!! I really suggest if you are looking for a good read to pick this one up!

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