Holidazzle!

Today was a day full of adventures! I saw a wonderful friend, went to the Walker Arts Center, the Holidazzle Parade and Ikea.  I'd say it was successful.

As Promised

A preview of my mittens! This is what the majority of my days have looked like.  It's bliss! I'm at ease for one of the first weeks all semester.  

Little Friends

I'm totally fortunate.  My finals week has consisted primarily of knitting and Private Practice! I had a final on Monday morning and don't have anything until Friday! Woot! Therefore, I knit.  I've been working on a pair of mittens for my friend Katie.  (Those will be posted later). And little creatures for tiny humans.  I made a cute little pig and a penguin.  I need to make another penguin.  I found this awesome pattern while on Ravelry. I had to pay for it but it was totally awesome! 28 ornaments for about 3 dollars.  Anyway! They're great presents for the tiny humans in my life.  I'm so happy I have people to knit for!

How is your snow-less winter going?

A Cubed

The quality on this is a bit poor.  But it is readable! I got A^3 on my in class exam for writing.  What does  that even mean? Oh well. I'll take it! 

Worth It

These little gems were worth half an hour of my time.  Yummm.

Lights!

I put up my Christmas lights today.  I was really excited! How is your holiday season going? 

Method

My method yesterday for getting a group for a class to actually do some work and be productive was to make them cookies.  I guess some background information would be that it's a group of three guys and poor me.  Too much testosterone in the group.  Oh well.  We've had little projects all semester and a two page paper can take us up to 2 1/2 hours.  Ridiculous.  But they're all pretty fun so I guess that's okay.  But we have a final paper due next week.  5-7 pages.  I was pretty sure there was no way it was going to get done.  So I made cookies to bribe them into working. Cookies just boosted everyone's energy to browse the internet more! Oh well! It was a good time.  We got most of the paper done.  Hooray! 

This cookie recipe is one of my favorites.  Mainly because of how easy it is! I don't like to bake.  I'd rather cook most of the time.  So an easy recipe is always welcome. 

1 Box of Cake Mix

2 Eggs

1/3 Cup of Oil

1 Teaspoon of Peppermint Extract! 

Christmas cookies aren't Christmasy without frosting! Yeah for powdered sugar cookies!

I added peppermint extract to it as well as crushed candy canes. Yummm!

What kind of goodies are you making this holiday season?!

Long Overdue

Thanksgiving came and went yet again! It wasn't super busy or anything, which was really nice.

Thanksgiving for me involved cat sitting for a neighbor.  This cat is crazy huge but so nice.  Look! She's winking at us! She's pretty great

 I also riced a bunch of potatoes for LEFSE! Yumm!

Highlight of the holiday season for me. For sure.  This is just a portion of the lefse that we made.  We mixed up three batches which yielded 30 pieces of lefse.  I was a little bummed that I couldn't make it with my grandma but she wasn't feeling well. Hopefully over winter break I'll be able to make a little bit with her. She's an expert! 

The next day, I decided that rosettes were in order! I bought Dad rosette irons a couple years ago for Christmas and we hadn't used them yet.  I love rosettes but neither grandma makes them every year.  I understand why now.  One batch took forever to fry.  I ended up doing it mostly by myself so it was hard to keep them going without messing them up.  The batter isn't too hard to make it just takes a long time.  I give a lot of credit to my grandma's for all of the goodies that they make over the holidays! 

Contrast

Yesterday was my first walk to school of the semester.  I have just been riding my bike.  With snow and ice all over, I decided I shouldn't risk falling on my face.  (It's bound to happen eventually). Anyway! There was beauty all around me.  I love the look of frosty trees in the morning! And I couldn't help but notice the contrast of my purple converse and the white snow.  

Have I mentioned that winter is my favorite? At least for the first three months.  

Pretending

I had my second choir concert on Sunday! My parents were in town...but didn't come.  Horrible!  I know! But, they had a legitimate reason.  They are my cousin's baptismal sponsors and he was getting confirmed on Sunday at the exact same time.  So that morning, after family brunch, we took a picture to pretend that they were there.  I'm glad we took it! And I hope they can come to the next concert.

Speaking of concert, it went great! Being in choir makes the regret of not going to a private school a bit better.  I have a great director and so are the other two directors in the choral department.  It's nice to be in a group that is dedicated to making music.  Plus, we wear sparkley dresses! What girl doesn't love that?

Quilts!

I've been meaning to post this since Friday night! But, the weekend was a little too crazy for blogging! (After coming home on Friday night, I had laundry to do, a room to clean, and homework to do all before my parents got here on Saturday while I was at choir rehearsal.) However! I did survive and got most of it done... except for the homework which got left to last night.. Oops.  :) 

On Friday, I went over to my grandma's to finish up a couple of tshirt quilts that I made the tops for over the summer.  I had been meaning to do this project before graduation but the end of last school year got a little crazy.  My grandma's friend quilted them for me so all I had left to do was bind them! 

I learned that binding is SUPER easy! It makes me eager to make more quilts.  My sister and a few uncles have already told me that they might be giving me a tub of shirts.  I guess I have no choice now!

Anyway! The quilts turned out super awesome.  I didn't really need another blanket so I left one with my parents for my mom's car.  She needs a winter blanket just in case! The snow is coming!

White Stuff

I drove home home today.  As I got to be about an hour from home, I realized that the temperature had dropped seven degrees and there was now snow on the ground, slush on the road and frost on the trees! Woah! When did winter get here? I realize that 200 miles shouldn't make that much of a difference, but it totally does.  

It's really nice to be at home.  I've been homesick lately. It hasn't felt like fall or winter. After being home for the afternoon and evening, it feels like winter can come now. I'm ready to sit around and craft all day.  I'm already plotting a few new knitting projects and Christmas presents.  

  I never thought I'd miss my small northern Minnesota town this much.  I stopped by to see my dad at the school and ended up chatting for a couple of hours with various teachers.  Such a weird phenomenon! It was really nice.  But while I was there, I discovered how much I don't miss high school students. So it's all good! 

Hope you're having a great end to the week! 

Feeding the birds

Babysitting is lovely.  An easy way to entertain children, if you ever need something, is to let them watch birds in water.  The little tykes enjoyed "feeding" the geese, swans, and ducks sand.  It was cute.  Plus it was gorgeous outside today! 58 for November?!?! What?! 

Hope you had a lovely Saturday! 

Can I Move? Please?

I am in a neighboring town around 3 times a week! It's a cute town and I babysit some kiddos who live just outside of town.  The neighboring town is another college town which is a college that was number two on my list.  Mind you, where I'm at was no where near the top of my list.  Anyway, I still get to enjoy some of the perks of living near my number two.  These perks include: wandering around campus, going to the lake, singing in the Abbey and drinking coffee at the best coffee shop ever.  It's wonderful.  That's where I'm at now.

I just asked my sister if we could move.  She said sure, as long as we sell the house.  (Why am I NOT a realtor?!!?)

Alas, I'll just have to drop by whenever I can and enjoy some wonderful dark roast coffee and a croissant  in/on beautiful flatware.  Check it out!

What's orange and gooey and provides a great way to ignore homework?

PUMPKINS!

My best friend from high school, Mikayla, was here for the past two days on her fall break while I still had to go to school.

We carved pumpkins together instead of me doing homework! Ooops! But it was so great to spend time together!

Pumpkin Guts!

Soon to be a delicious treat!

Mikayla did Ferb and I did the Angry Bird.  

Progress

It's been so long.  A week? Holy cow.  I've been in a funk.  I feel like all I do is go to class and come home and try to revive myself.  The other night, I cast on this lovely project.  It's an infinity cowl.  You can check out the details on Ravelry. I hope your fall is going well! Also, I am in need of people to knit for.  So, if you need a project, let me know; I can hook you up!

Peppers!

Yummmmmmm

Holy Hot!

It was 85º here today.  Where is fall? This is crazy! I'm ready to be wearing warm clothing, not shorts.  Apparently, mother nature doesn't get it.  Today was a lemonade day.  So wonderful.  It's almost like fresh squeezed because it has pulp in it.  My favorite! I hope fall will be here soon! Happy Thursday!

I'm melting!

I turned my "bored" vibes into "creative" vibes last night! 

I need stuff on my walls so this is where I started.  

Yay for crayons!

Crossing the Finish Line

I crossed the finish line at 2 am last night!
This is by far, my favorite thing that I've knitted.
She loves it too! She's been wearing it all morning
while we play outside.

Hats!

My current project! 

The Heel Stitch Hat is super adorable! I made one for myself last week. This week,

I'm making one for an adorable little girl.  My sister made her mittens with 

these colors for her birthday, and I decided she needed a hat to match!

Now all I need is for it to get a little bit colder and stay at that temperature. 

I love Purl Soho! I suggest you follow their blog as well! 

Rewards

Today I rewarded myself for studying for one out of three exams and actually going to class.  Since it doesn't make sense to drink a delicious pumpkin spice latte on a warm day like today, I opted for the iced chai latte! Yumm! Not to mention, I biked three miles to get here.  I feel accomplished.  

Space and Time

It has been so long since I have been in this space.  I keep finding that it is harder and harder to avoid the daily grind and find things that make life exciting.  I'm not saying that this is bad, but I need things to look forward to to get me through the days and weeks.  Since I have last been here, I have done some fun things!

I've been babysitting a lot and decided that when I'm a parent, I want to keep an activity chart for my kids. Not just a chore chart but a place for them to keep track of how often they read, play instruments, and participate in activities.  I'm big on time management now and I wish I would have been when I was younger. 

I got the chance to read one of my Children's books! Madaline! "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines..."

I've been finding protein in nuts! Hooray for buying roasted, unsalted nuts in bulk!

And one of my favorite activities, I got to meet my goddaughter! 

She's precious and I am thankful for the time that I got to spend with her.  I'm looking forward to many more days with her. 

I hope to be back in this space more consistently in the coming weeks.  I miss it.  It is a nice reprieve from homework.

Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the fall! 

Yum Yum!

I made cake mix cookies tonight! Apparently, having bigger spoons than at home didn't occur to me.  So they're huge! But they're delicious! A big shout out to Kelly for sharing her secret recipe with me.

Beauty

My Brief Absence

Remember that I was excited my parents were here?
I had in mind a nice relaxing weekend.
Those were interrupted on Saturday morning
when I woke up and couldn't get comfortable
with my left eye open or shut. After six hours
of fighting with it, I finally woke my mom up.
Another hour later, she decided that we couldn't
fix it and brought me to the ER.  I found out that
I had a large abrasion in my cornea.  (How the
heck does that happen?) So! I've spent the past
couple of days with my eyes shut a good part
of the time! Last night, I was able to go to a
low key dinner party and had a great celebration
for a new year! Today, I made it through my classes
alive.  My vision isn't back to normal yet but

I'm 90% healed! Hooray! Thank the Lord for
painkillers and antibiotics! On the right, you'll find a great picture of my "souvenirs."

Rainbow!

My parents are here! Hooray! My momma bought flowers.  

They're so pretty :) Happy Friday!

Laundry Day!

Today, I decided that since

 my parents are coming 

tomorrow, that I should 

probably get a move on 

my laundry.  It has been

 two and a half weeks.  

I'm proud of my laundry 

heap, not gonna lie.

If you ever feel the need

to do laundry, you are most

certainly welcome to come

do mine. You can probably tell

that I hate doing it. 

  

Quidditch!

Today... I joined the quidditch club.  Yes.  It will be great.  Or at least I'm hoping it will be.  I can't not be a HP nerd. It's physically impossible! But I'm excited!

Decorating

My room is pretty much void of decorations.
The "decorations" are mostly practical things.
My Toms flag has turned into a little spot in
my room that makes me smile whenever I see it.

-Toms are my life.  Pretty much.  They're so great
and the Toms mission is a wonderful one.  I wish one
day to intern or at least participate in a shoe drop.

-Top left corner: "I Yust Don't Give a Hoot!" Button.
I found this cute little guy at my grandma's house.
Treasure forever.

-Top right corner: My cute little erlenmeyer flask
that my friend made me to make me feel included
in door decorations that I'm missing since I'm off
campus.

-Bottom right corner: Barack to the future! I feel that
 this will be fitting in a year. I'm not terribly political but...
he deserves the chance to finish what he's started.

-Bottom left corner: STC 2011.  Well I guess it
just becomes even more official everyday. And last
but not least: I Love HOBY! It's true.  I can't hide
it nor do I want to!

Sundays

I love Sundays for so many reasons. I will now spew a list at you to share my excitement of today.

-Church! I've found a new home!

-Coffee

-Listening to MPR (especially A Prairie Home Companion)

-The Economist

-General lazing around. 

You may say that I can do this any day but these things have been a part of my Sunday ritual.  

Not all of these always happen but when they do, I can't help but smile.  Do you have any

little things that can't help but make you smile? 

Apparently This is Real Now

Last night, I made this cute little guy.  He's soft and fluffy.  I guess it means that my new mascot is for real.  This is where I go to school now.  Honestly, the last week was such a whirlwind that I don't even remember half of the details.  But that's okay with me.  It was a good week.  Busy but good.   I'm meeting new friends.  That's something to be proud of isn't it? And if all else fails, I have this little guy.  

Lunch

I would like to thank my loving grandmother for helping me make empenadas for my freezer.  Thanks to her I have a quick lunch! Hooray. Best lunch ever.

First Day of School!

First day of school.  Holy cow, where did that come from? 

It was good though, I managed to find everything and not look like an eager freshman.  After a long day of classes, I was in need of a nap.  I feel like I just took the best nap I've ever taken.  Totally looking forward to all of the exciting days to come.   

I'll leave you with the best thing that I learned today: Your mind is like a parachute, it only works when open.

Ponder that and how you can be more open