Nessa Weekly

Save-The-Dates

2010-07-12T19:42:00.009-05:00

So, things have been busy here. Busy doesn't even sum it up. I am surprised my head hasn't fallen off yet. So, sorry for my radio silence on the good 'ole blog.

Some big news as of late, and reason for my lack of posts:

PhD Defense - August 9th
Starting job as lecturer of 3 chemistry classes (700 students) - August 25th aaahhhh!!!!
Getting married - September 18th
Moving somewhere in between that!

Yeah, that's the big stuff.
I have been keeping myself very occupied lately, mostly with dissertation writing and my summer teaching job (TA). When I get tired of writing, then it's time for wedding preparations, etc. I'm constantly working. How did all of this happen? I don't know! I wasn't planning on everything to come at once like this. It's intense right now, and I was not expecting to start a job so soon, but I am very glad to have something that will add to my resume in the interim time between my graduation and Ryan's, and that we can also still be together in the same place. Then our wedding will be the icing on top of the craziness (it's worth it!). I can't wait to see all of my and his family (together! that's a first) and be in our BEAUTIFUL new apartment together. Anyhow, back to the title of this post. My save-the-dates. I haven't been up to any craftiness, except for these guys. I had such nice plans for them (as you will see) but then with time issues and snaffoos popping up here and there, I was THIS CLOSE to letting a facebook message suffice to give everyone advanced notice about the wedding. I know, SO WRONG, but I figured it would have been ok since it's all (mostly) family (I know, still not OK). Anyhow, they wouldn't have gotten done if it weren't for my cousin Meryl and her friend Georgia coming to see me and force me to do wedding preparations, like DRESS SHOPPING. yeah, I've been a total slacker. But that's for another post. Save-the-dates. These girls were awesome and helped me make them. Wanna see? I know you do.
I got (copied I think is more like it) my idea from 100layercake's tutorial.

I started compiling these things weeks ago, and I did a couple things differently. I had a custom stamp made through Etsy seller SugarLetter. I wanted something that had our names and the location, since it is a bit of a destination wedding, so that our guests could know who this was for and where - without me having to add anything extra in the envelope. I used lace instead of doilies. Well ok, I ordered the doilies but they took FOREVER to get here - not until after my save-the-dates were in the mail! So I went to Joann and got lace to use instead (now I have something like 72 super cute 3" crochet doilies sitting at home). I used raffia and hemp twine along with various heart and flower charms, all bought at Joann. The "pressed floral" paper was found in the scrapbooking department at Joann as well. The biggest issue was the tags. I had ordered the exact same tags as was used in the tutorial. But with my stamp, which is much bigger than the library date-stamp used in the tutorial, everything looked really crowded and cluttered. I HATED it. I was actually very worried that my save-the-dates would turn out looking like a craft project gone totally wrong. And I dreaded trying to figure out what to do to make them work, I just didn't have the time or patience to really try to make it come together in a way that would keep all the elements I wanted. Further, none of the many places around town, craft supply and office stores alike, had tags any bigger. SIGH. Enter Meryl. "Why not just make our own tags?" DUH. I had thought of that. But making a template, tracing, cutting, yadda yadda. I SO didn't have time to do that on my own. However, with Meryl and Georgia along with lab and workout buddy Emma, we were able to tackle it via assembly line. We got some thick linen card stock in ivory to serve as the tag material. Meryl made the template stencil, then Georgia traced, while Emma cut tags, (my rotary cutter saved so much time!), Meryl cut out the lace pieces and I sewed them onto the tags. Nearly 6 hours later, we had the tag bodies made. Then Mem, Georgia and I finished adding the other pieces throughout the next day. I am so happy with the result.

save the date!

There were several styles, though all very similar. You may have to click on the pic to view a larger version of it to see what I am talking about. The main differences include what type of string was used to tie the charm - raffia or twine. The next was the floral paper/stamp piece. It either had the save-the-date stamp or the "all you need is love" stamp. Additionally, the lace was cut in either a quarter circle piece (convex), or the opposite (concave) sloping inward piece. Finally, each save -the-date had it's own charm, so every one was unique.

concave lace, raffia, small stamp on floral paper

similar, but this was my favorite charm in the bunch. I believe Aunt Kristin got this one! Yes, I hand selected them for the recipients.

My workers.

Meryl

Georgia

I am such a slave driver. They should start making unions for save-the-date makers because I worked these girls the entire two days there were here (as evidenced by Meryl in this next photo, upon completion of our project) She'll tell you, they were allowed only 1 Coke and 1 bathroom break per day. =) kidding! But we got them done!

I gave my helpers a very special save-the-date.

Sugar scrub! made by me =)

Thanks Mem and Georgia!!! I couldn't have gotten nearly any of the things we got done without your help and I am SO APPRECIATIVE. Emma, you helped so much too, by staying late to get all those cards cut out. We wouldn't have been able to finish them the next day without that, I know it! Emma also baked german chocolate cupcakes . . . YYyuuuuuUUUMMmmmmm! Nothing urges you to work a little more quickly than the smell of warm chocolatey goodness =) You ladies are awesome! I had so much fun with you girls. . . Mem and GA, you're a riot. You guys definitely brightened my spirits when you were here. I can't wait to see you at my wedding!

The sparkly

2010-06-04T11:18:00.005-05:00

Here are some more photos of my ring. =) I just love it!!!

Yes, those are my real nails. =P The ring is white gold, with a round cut center stone. It loves to sparkle and show itself off in the light! My camera really sucks at capturing it though, and I have trouble keeping everything still enough to get a super clear picture. Anyway, there are also four smaller diamonds on each side of the center stone.

I love how it tapers and gets skinnier towards the center. I think it is very feminine. And the band is thin enough so that it doesn't truncate my already short fingers.

side view

Here you can see the cathedral setting. The diamond is "suspended" and you can see right through it. pretty cool!!! This also allows much more light to pass through it, and why is sparkles like it's meant to. It's hard to see, but there is tiny detailing on the edge of each ring, called "milgrain". It just adds more look to the metal, and makes it more antiquey looking. Ryan really liked that.

bridal set

He did get it as a set, so just showing them off together here. It's so nice because it's all PAID FOR and since I already have a beautiful matching band, we don't have to worry anymore about my rings. The band has small matching diamonds in it too, I believe there are ten.

I love it! I am currently writing my thesis and I keep getting distracted by it. Ryan will also occasionally just grab my hand, look at it, and smile. So cute. =) He already says he wishes it was bigger, but I think it is perfect. There is no rush! And there will be opportunities later when he can upgrade me.

He just loves to spoil me. =)

The pictures really don't do it justice I think (at least my pictures don't). So, we'll have to wait for wedding paparazzi's to take some nice shots, or show it off in person. But for now . . . that's the ring. Next time. . . engagement story!!!

Question:

2010-05-23T22:37:00.004-05:00

How is it that kitties, even though they are sleeping, know that you are taking pictures of them. . .

And that they should twist and contort their bodies in the cutest way possible. . .

so that you just can't help but kiss that sweetly delicious little face?

They do it on purpose, ya know.

Happy Monday!

A Fire Garden

2010-05-21T10:49:00.007-05:00

About two months ago, I planted a little garden on my balcony in my various window boxes and hanging baskets. When Ryan was little, he used to help his mom in her garden. He told me how he begged her to let him have his own little garden, a "fire garden", which would have only plants in fire-colored hues. She never let him. =( So when it came time for me to make my balcony pretty again, I decided to do a fire garden that he can enjoy.

Please ignore my sad lights. They need to be reinforced, that is if they still work. I have had lots of critters (squirrels) hanging out on my balcony, and being rodents, I know they are perpetually chewing animals. I wouldn't be surprised if my lights have fell victim to their gnawing habits.

The view directly out from my sliding door

Remember how the wrens were tearing apart my planter? Yeah, I didn't feel like paying 9 bucks for another coconut shell planter shell, so I just provided more support by cutting up one of the plastic pots some of the plants came in. =) Directly left of this view is a bird seed feeder, so between the birds and squirrels, by balcony gets a lot of visitors. The cats of course, love to watch them from the window. Baby, very curious by nature, is always waiting at the door to follow me outside whenever I go out to do laundry or water the plants.

He always has to investigate

A view slightly to the right of that first photo. . .

some of the window-boxes are the same

There is the wren house, a hummingbird feeder (though I haven't seen any yet) and yep, those are topsy-turvies. I'll let you know how those work. I have bell-pepper, tomatoes and tomatillos in them. My balcony doesn't get a whole lot of sun, so I am concerned with how well they will really do. I might need to move them to the front walkway where it's not so shaded by all the trees. I'd like to try to avoid that, because even though I am a friendly neighbor, I don't want my produce getting taken by others. =(

the veggies

I've been fertilizing the plants so they've really begun to take off. No baby produce yet though. That small soda bottle is for slow-watering so that the bag stays really moist.

Some flowers and rosemary for cooking

My plant gnawer is back. I don't know if its a squirrel or what, but I just noticed it about a week ago. That little yellow plant is non-existent now. Something chewed all the leaves off just leaving the yellow head. And I found it yesterday, chewed clean off, laying there in the dirt all sad and brown. =( I've begun to notice it on one of the tomatoes too. I really want to know what is doing this!
Once, I did see a female cardinal in the trees just hanging out in the branches. Then she would jump up and pull a leaf off. I watched her for several minutes just plucking the leaves off the tree and watching them fall. It seemed like she was doing this for fun, because she was not collecting them. I was fascinated when I first saw this, and thought it was pretty funny. . . until it started happening to my plants! Now I wonder if it's her. Some of the branches and things that I have noticed are being broken seem a bit thick for a little cardinal beak though. I'll be keeping an eye out! Anyhow, I think I will replace that yellow plant with some lavender. I know, not a fire-garden flower. But as I do have some herbs here, it will fit in with that scheme. =)

Flowers, red and orange with one that looks like firecrackers.

window box with begonias, thyme and alyssum

hanging baskets of flowers

The one furthest left has some begonias with other greenery.

a closeup

Some butterfly bush (left) and I don't know what that red one is called. But I love how it looks like flames!!

I love my pretty outdoor space. Hope you enjoyed it too. TGIF!

It Feels Good. . .

2010-05-14T19:17:00.004-05:00

to stretch some pennies. I had a very big choice to make the other day. . . my dilemma was if I should take a bubble bath or not. I know, TOUGH. Well, for a while now I've been wanting to make a sugar body scrub, but didn't have a shower appropriate jar for it (I have lots of glass jars, but I don't see that working so well on the slippery surfaces). Then I was really wanting to soak the other day, with this flowery bubble bath from The Healing Garden, that is conveniently kept in a plastic jar. As I was about to run the water, a (very obvious) light bulb went off. Let's use the rest of the bubble bath as a base for the sugar scrub! I had enough for a very rich bath, but I figured a month's worth of foaming, sugary exfoliating goodness to show off summer skin was a great way to stretch it out a bit. It works great! And smells WONDERFUL. =)

jasminey foamy sugar scrub

When it runs out, I will make another batch of sugar scrub. It's really easy. . . Add 1/2 handsoap /bath gel to a jar then stir in sugar(or salt) until you get a nice paste. Use as often as you like for beautiful, healthy skin!

A sea of red

2010-05-06T11:20:00.003-05:00

Saw this off of the freeway a couple weeks ago. Made me grab my camera the next day and take that exit to share with you all. . .

can you believe all that red?

This sea of red poppies was the entire side yard of a cute house off the freeway. You can't see how big this square is, but I'd say it was at least 50'x50'. So you can see how it very easily caught my eye. Can we just get in a little closer please?

aaahhhhh. so delicate and dramatic.

I love poppies. Now I just hear a certain evil, nasaly voice saying in a drawn out way, "Poooooppieeeeees, pooooooopieeeeees."

These remain one of my favorites.

Happy almost-end-of-the-week!

From the Mister

2010-05-03T12:21:00.004-05:00

This weekend was pretty exciting. Ryan found one of his baby snakes that had escaped out of it's cage. It was actually his best snake, because he has a special gene for a certain type of coloring. So it was a huge disappointment when he got out about 5 weeks ago. Ryan has since started to build snake-escape-artist-proof-cages. We had both turned his apartment upside down looking for him on multiple occasions and he continued to look for him too, but given how long it had been since the snake last ate, we both feared that he had died or gotten outside under his front door. Anyhow, last week when I was visiting him, I noticed a snake skin under his toilet seat when I let it down. I immediately asked him if he had ever brought a snake skin into the bathroom when cleaning out the cages or whatever (it didn't seem likely, but I had to check) and he ran into the bathroom too to see the snake skin. It meant baby Hummel was still inside! Well on Friday night, Ryan had trouble sleeping and decided to get up and try looking for him again. Boy was he surprised to see him cruising around in his closet! The snake was tame before, but since he has been out on his own, he is pretty nippy. It's probably due to the fact that he is super hungry. . . . imagine a growing boy who hasn't eaten 6 meals. he would be grumpy too! I am sure that with more handling (by Ryan of course!) that he will calm down again. But I am SO glad that he found him. . . I now how sad it made him.
Well we were planning on going to the UT/Baylor baseball game Saturday night, so I met him over at his place so that we could drive to the park in one car and I wanted to see baby Hummel. And he surprised me with these:

peonies!

3 pink/coral and 3 white. Awwwww. He remembered that they are my favorite. And that they are in season now. what a sweet guy. I am sad I didn't get pictures of them sooner. I left them at his place when we went to the game, and i didn't get them after because the game went like 15 innings and by the time we got back to his place I just wanted to go home and not go inside and get them. I wish I had, because they opened up A LOT. especially the pink ones. And since he worked all day yesterday, I didn't get them until yesterday evening. But they are still gorgeous and I am enjoying them. So is Baby.

The stinkin babe-in. (stinkin babe-in is my nickname for him)

he only got to smell them until I saw him start to open his mouth to chew on them. And which point he got a little tap on his behind and moved them out of his reach.

I love how big and delicate they are. The pink ones have those fabulous scoopy petals. while the white ones are all crinkly and pom-pom-y.

This one is the most open. You can't really tell the size of it, but it is much bigger than my whole hand open. the camera isn't quite capturing it, but the coloring in the petals is amazing. The only way I can describe it is like a watercolor. The colors blend and swirl, with the white at the center gradually growing to that vibrant pink.

I was so surprised. He is such a good Mister.

The Stitchin' Bee - April Block

2010-04-30T14:07:00.007-05:00

I finally got my April blocks for this quilting bee finished! This was hard to do, at first, just because I didn't really know where to start. Kelly, our queen bee for the month, sent us a whole bunch of bright colored fabrics and one piece featuring a comic strip. She is calling this her "Dysfunctional Family Quilt" which will be used as a beach quilt since her family frequents the very nearby beach in Florida. Our directions were that we could design any kind of block we wanted, as long as the comic was visible. And boy, are some of the ladies talented. you can check out the Flickr page for the group to see what some of them came up with. Talk about pressure to perform!

Anyhow, I had started off designing a block, which needed to be 12.5" x 12.5", made of four smaller 6.5" square blocks. This took me while to design, and account for seam allowances and imagine how it was all going to work. Then I made some prototype blocks so that I wouldn't mess up on the fabric Kelly gave me since that was the only material I had. Once satisfied, I made the blocks that did not have the comic strip. With those blocks in hand, I imagined how it would look with the final block and just wasn't feeling it. I think it would have been too crazy and too much going on. Since I didn't want to cut up the other blocks, I tried to think of what I could do with the remaining fabric, and some pieces from my own stash. This is what I came up with.

"Thanks babe, Mother'll never taste the arsenic!'

I made the square, by bordering the white/lavender dot fabric with the dark purple. The mini-pieced border is made of a strip of (unfinished) 1.5" squares and (unfinished) 0.75" squares, in the order of 1.5, 0.75, 0.75, repeat. Then another bigger dark purple border, finally outlined by 3" triangle squares pieced together. Finally, I appliqued the comic to the center of it. It's a bit wonky. I don't think I have ever done such fussy cutting and sewing ever before. I was definitely out of my comfort zone. But I am pretty proud of it. When I showed it to Ryan, he was definitely impressed that I came up with that. His reaction was really quite sweet actually. Anyhow, this was very challenging for me, but also very fun and I have already learned a lot! I am looking forward to Lisa's month next and what her assignment is.

Since I didn't cut up the other blocks, I sent them along as well since Kelly can still use them maybe somewhere in her quilt. There was one fabric that had brightly colored circles (reminded me of beach balls) about the size of 50 cent pieces. I cut some of the full circles out and appliqued them to the center of each of these "beach ball blocks".

These are 6.5" square blocks. These pics were snapped post applique- so some of the blocks still have indentions from my little quilting ring. I was too lazy and tired to get out the iron, fire it up and iron them out, when they were going to be folded up and put in a baggie for the mail. sorry.

This has been an adventure and I am looking forward to the next one.

This week has been crazy and I am exhausted. My weekend plans? sleep. Hope you are doing something more exciting!!

Myla's Quilt

2010-04-01T09:43:00.011-05:00

It's done. The quilt for my future-niece. Whew. I don't know why this took me so long, because nothing about this was hard to do. Well nothing except resigning myself to the fact that with 160 little squares, I am not going to have perfect seams and some are going to be a little bit off and that's the beauty and love of homemade, handmade treasures. I showed a sneak peek of the quilt top a while ago, then it was time for making the quilt sandwich and doing the quilting, which was done by machine. I pinned the three layers, every other square, to keep everything together, taut and in order. Baby was very helpful throughout the entire process, like playing with strings, attacking my foot when I pressed down on the sewing machine pedal, jumping up onto my workspace to make sure I was doing everything correctly, chewing on quilt pins and especially testing out quilt softness and snuggleness. He was my quality control.

It's my little helper! (being a good helper)

The pattern: Alicia Paulson's Ollalieberry Ice Cream Quilt

Here is the "finished" quilt, complete with binding. The binding is a sweet pink gingham. Oh man, I hand-sewed the binding to it and could not wait to get it finished. Those (like Lisa) who do hand-quilting are very loving and brave souls. My fingers, even though I had a thimble, were definitely feeling it. Even more so, was my patience. The thing is, the fabrics for this quilt are not pre-washed, because you want them to shrink and get all crinkly when it's done. This also covers up all those little imperfections I was being so picky over. All I wanted to do was throw this baby in the washer and hot dryer to observe the magic. So you can imagine how I was was feeling as I was stitching on that binding, one stitch at a time, by hand. BUT, when I did finally finish and it came time to put it in the wash, boy was that the moment of truth. All I had running in my head was, "are you sure you want to put this in there? Are you positive it's not going to fall apart, and that you did everything right?" I know, it's ridiculous. It was definitely a trust-your-skills moment. But I am so glad I did. Because what came out was absolutely lovely, and I was all smiles over it.

The pattern called for a muslin backing, but I opted for some snuggle flannel. I figured it would be a little bit warmer for those chilly Oklahoma winter nights. It's white with baby blue flowers.

This was taken kind of late in the afternoon's fading light, with flash.

The truly finished quilt! The bluebonnets here are blooming like crazy. I don't know how I have lived here almost five years and haven't had any pictures of the blue bonnets until now. I love them. Every time I drive on the freeway, or are going somewhere with Ryan and see a patch of them I go, "Oh, look at the blue bonnets!" every. time. I think he thinks I must be crazy, and may very well be tired of looking at them himself. But I don't care. They make me happy. All flowers do really. It is just breathtaking when you see whole fields and embankments covered in them.

picnic style among the bluebonnets. . . lightly laid it on top since i I didn't want to smoosh them.

The quilt wasn't finished-finished until I made her name patch with birthdate, since this is her baby quilt after all! I made her name in pretty rose pink floss, following a trace of her name onto cream-colored cotton. I used a pretty Word font to write her name. Then I made an oval (or as best I could) and bordered it with light blue, light coral and finally chocolate floss in a running stitch, and appliqued the patch using the pin-turning method.

Myla Denise
12. 5. 2009

Momma bird loves Baby bird

There was a little hole, where one of the seams came apart. So I made a little patch to cover it up. I think it's really cute. One of the prints, Alexander Henry, that I used in the quilt has the little birds in it, so I traced their outline onto the cream fabric and embroidered them with various colors and stitches to decorate them. This way, they still "match" the blanket.
Even thought there are so many cute and pretty fabrics in this project, I think my favorite print in the whole thing is that sweetly dainty white one with the pink flowers in it, just to the above right of the bird patch. I really wish I had gotten more of it. I want to say it's "le Fleur Prairie House" or something like that. But when I first saw it, I remember having distinct images of Laura Ingalls and her sisters running through the prairie grass on their many adventures. Those were easily some of my most favorite books growing up.

The quilt is in the mail and on it's way to be delivered to Jenny tomorrow. I am so proud of this one!

So That's Where My Planter is Going

2010-03-30T10:10:00.004-05:00

I have these little iron baskets and window boxes with the coconut shell planter box out on my balcony. Of course, there isn't anything growing in them now. . . since it's finally consistently warm I need to put my green thumb to practice with some herbs and flowers. That is, if my planters are still intact. I've noticed over the last few weeks that chunks of them have started to go missing. I've caught the culprit red-handed.

See that cute little wren there?

The boxes are saggy, so I might have to get new ones anyways, but the cutest pair of wrens have been very busily taking bits of the coconut shells to make their nest. I would agree that it's a good building material! For being such little birds, these guys aren't very shy. They fly around while I am out on the balcony (I do have to be still though). I think they are very cute birds, (I've always had a thing for wrens) and that Wren is a cute name. Not only is this sweet pair taking my coconut planter, they have also re-established the use for one of my bird feeders.

it's a little wren house now!

I have another feeder, just a cheap plastic one, so I am using that one for seed and letting these guys keep the schnazzy one for their nesty abode. I love watching them fly back and forth (so do the kitties).

Mr. Cardinal here also had to check out what's going on.

Love that fire-engine red coloring. Cardinals on the other hand are very shy birds. I have some of those bamboo-framed round chairs with the big cushion out on the balcony. I am scheming to hide out there under a blanket to get some closer shots of them. These are taken through my glass sliding door. We'll see if I can get anything.

I had fun this weekend with some bird-watching. Hope you did something fun too!

Donderdag

2010-03-26T12:42:00.004-05:00

Thursday. In Dutch. That was yesterday, and I so appropriately finished a little bit of something....here's a sneak peek.

"Thursday" (you can click on the photo for a closeup)

I am making some special dishtowels for a special someone. These are a la Alicia Paulson's (are you surprised?) Pleasant Dish Towels. She has a free pdf pattern for them, but I decided to make my own Dutch-themed ones for the week. I got artistic and did all the sketches myself! I have been having a lot of fun with the embroidery. It doesn't require much thinking, just following the outline I have already sketched and traced onto the fabric with my needle and thread. Plus having different stitches to do keeps it from getting too monotonous. I think French knots are my favorite to make so far, and I know I haven't even begun to learn all the possible stitches. Anyhow, this towel is not complete yet. I have some pretty blue fabric prints to trim the border, so I'll get to that when I get to that. I'm not really in a rush.

Those purple blooms are, I think, wisteria. I saw them when coming home yesterday, the vines climbing all over this old oak tree alongside the road just bursting with all this beautiful purple. So I rode my bike over (it was such a pretty day) with a little bag and cut some for my little photo op. =) They are fragrant, but not so heady as lilac, and that's why I think it could be wisteria. I could be wrong though! Aren't they pretty? I love purple. . . maybe that has to do with one of my Dad's nicknames for me, Sugarplum. Wisteria and lilac are on my "list of plants for my garden" to have one day, if my location allows for their growth. Anyhow, I am trying to be better about styling my photos . . . I'm learning! =)

I'm in Love

2010-03-24T17:48:00.005-05:00

Last week, I discovered Anthropologie. Not discovered as heard of it for the first time, but went into the store, got to touch, see smell everything and be in total girly-fun wonder kind of discovered. I was meeting Ryan, his friend and friend's wife at Book People, had gotten there early and saw that Anthro was also in the same shopping mall. Now, I love me some books, but I love me girly things even more, and I really wanted to check it out. I am pretty sure I gasped as soon as I walked in. everything there is so feminine and just . . . pretty. it's like a huge art project of clothes, home decor and well, everything! I saw a chandelier made of seashells, which if I had a lot of money (because that's how much it cost), would have bought for my beach-babe sister and her surfer beau. it was SO Ash. so Ash. But some other things that really caught my eye....

This dress was right at the front door when you walked in. Nothing says cool in the summer like crisp white and blue.

purrrrty

I know I could make something like this....

And I think that was perhaps one of my most favorite things about the store. Other than being a place to splurge and treat myself to pretty things, it's a great place for inspiration. I just loved walking around and finding things that caught my eye and dissecting how it was made. It's really not hard (I can handle that), just impeccably done (where I need practice). Like said top above.

I bet this silk dress is heavenly to wear in the summer. It felt so light to the touch

As did this skirt....

What about this capelet?

I think its feminine and smart

ok, yet another example of something that, with a good amount of time, could totally be made!

so dainty

love that pop of color....something else that could be handmade!

Emma, one of my buddies here, also loves this place and we have decided that we will make a girls date to go back. She hasn't been to the one in Austin yet. And I would love to get this.

I've been on a lavender kick, and I am certain I won't get over it. I have a couple perfumes that are just about gone and I have my eye on this one!

Their housewares section was just as fun.

This is just a color gradient of cotton ruffles. viola! Expensive shower curtain! genius.

poppy drawer knob? yes please. I would be fine not making this one. But it is so cute. I am already dreaming about a little studio/craft room so artfully decorated. . . complete with poppy drawer knobs.

And pretty door knobs too.

I would get fat making food just so I could eat them off these plates. And I'd have lots of dinner parties. more poppies. =)

embroidered dishtowels. how cute is that? I am working on some simple ones right now (the going is very slow) and this example, while very cute, is not nearly as ornate as some of the others they had. Anyhow, my eyes were opened yet again!

So, that was my lovely adventure at Anthropologie. And I didn't even get to the bedroom section. But I did see a quilt that was made of jersey. huh? yeah. It was so gooshy and felt amazing. Kind of heavy, but somehow light at the same time. I'm sure I'll embark on such an endeavor sometime in the future. Now I know what everyone has meant when they talk about Anthro, and I am all over that boat.

I love to. . .

2010-03-05T18:25:00.004-06:00

Wash my face. I know. Is that lame?
During the Superbowl, they aired some commercials for L'oreal's new Go 360 Clean skincare line. I don't know if these aired before because I don't have or watch TV. This line features a little "scrublet", a gentle little scrubber thingiebobber. The guys all laughed and thought it ridiculous. But I secretly wanted one. I hate using washcloths to wash my face. I just don't like leaving a wet, dripping cloth to dry and get everything else wet. It gets so humid here, that it often does not dry, and you're left with a mildewy towel. eewww. definitely not washing my face with that. And I feel like my palms/fingers just don't clean as well. So, I promised myself that I would wait until my current bottle of face cleanser was gone, because I am one of those girls. you know, the kind that sees a new beauty product, then buys it, and has a whole stash that she never ends up using, taking up all the space in her bathroom. I hate seeing all that stuff around. It makes me feel guilty, like I'm really high maintenance. But really, I'm not. Anyhow, I finally got it last weekend. And I love it.

the scrublet =P

I got the orange one. It's a foaming scrub cleanser. yeah, you're probably thinking, "geez, a scrub and scrublet? Does this girl have any skin left on her face?" I do. And it's soft. And my skin feels cleaner and my pores smaller. Plus, I loved the smell of it. apricots. it's like a fresh summer day, sun a-shining and birds a-singing. a near-spiritual experience, twice a day. for five bucks. (maybe the guys were laughing for a good reason) So yeah, I love to wash my face. You should try it, you will too. Now, I wash my face just for the heck of it. Ok, maybe not that much. But at least now it's fun.

Oh, I also made a Flickr page. You can check it out here. I think I also have a space for it in my happy places. There are some sneak photos up there, so you can check 'em out if you like. and leave comments. Every blogger, poster, person who shares something over the web loves to get comments and feedback. I was reading an article somewhere about blogging etiquette, and how one should leave a comment whenever they come across something that really piques their interest or moves them in some way. I've really tried to get better about that. Especially since I use Google Reader to keep up with all my favorites. With reader, you don't have the option to directly leave comments, you have to go to the blog page itself. I used to be lazy and not leave comments, but now I'm being better about it. Because I know I like to get comments. who doesn't? =)

Annnnd, I joined a quilting bee! Lisa (The Blue Dress) just started one, and asked me to be a part of the group! i'm excited. i'll get to be a part of 12 different quilts, one being my own. Each member, or bee, is assigned a month, and gets to decide on a theme for their quilt. They buy the fabrics, and send them to the other bees with instructions on how they want their blocks constructed. The bees then get to create the blocks and send them back to the Queen Bee for the month, who then assembles her quilt. Sounds like fun, eh? I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

Ok, that's it for now. I don't have much else to post about. i've been keeping busy with school stuff, and things are going to be pretty intense on that front for a while. I'll pop in and update when i can. Hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend!

For a Friend

2010-02-25T11:43:00.009-06:00

My friend, Nikki, a former grad student in the department moved away up to Michigan last year. =( She got a job at a pharmaceutical company up there, and her fiance, Nick, is going to law school there as well. They both grew up in Michigan, so naturally, it made sense for them to go back home once they finished with school here in Texas. But oh how I miss my buddy.

There were so many hours of fun game nights, with margaritas and Scene It! (fun game) . While they are not as frequently held now, we always play this classic for game nights that I still have at my apartment. There is always a sad empty spot on my couch, and it's just not the same without them. I will never forget the time she and Nick convinced Ryan and I to finally check out The Oasis (where Nick proposed to Nikki [awww!]), a beautiful restaurant high on the cliffs above Lake Travis. The sunsets there are quite breath-taking. Anyhow, we made a big trip to go out there (it's a bit of a ways out of town) one summer evening. Sure enough, as we get there, huge rain clouds are moving in. We decided to take our chances. As soon as we sit down, torrential downpours had us soaked in seconds. We all laughed, and thought it hilarious something like this would happen to us during all the possible summer nights we could have chosen to go there for dinner. Needless to say, we did not get to see the sunset that night, but still enjoyed their great company and dinner. I cannot think of Nick and Nikki without thinking of that dinner. good times.
Nikki and I were also pool buddies, shopping buddies and the likes. I miss her, and the fact that there haven't been too many girls here in the department makes her presence missed even more. They are getting married this summer, and just bought a house. I knew had to send along some things as a sort of house-warming gift.

First I did some crochet produce bags. Nikki was here when I decided to take up learning how to crochet and knit. Remember that knit square I did way back when? Yeah, she was the second person I proudly showed it off to, in a sort of "Look, Mommy!" moment. As well as many of my other early projects. She thoughtfully picked up a knit and crochet magazine for me one day when she was at Barnes and Noble, so I wanted to do at least one gift of that craft for her.

two crochet bags: one dusty rose and the other heather grey cotton blend

The pattern I followed for these was from the Purl Bee - Whit's linen grocery tote. I love the Purl Bee, they always have such great tutorials on this site. I have done several of them, and this was another easy, relatively quick project. I hope they work out well. . . it looks like they can get pretty stretchy. She already has plans for riding her bike to the farmers market downtown and using them once it warms up. I'm glad she likes them.

I also did a napkin set, using this great tutorial. I'd made them before, for my sister Ashley. She is keeping hers in her hope chest. =) Though now, I'm kind of feeling bad that she got those particular ones. They were the very first thing I made with my brand new sewing machine, and pretty much making something on my own. ever. So they've definitely got all that first-time love and little mistakes going on. Nikki's set turned out drastically different.

front of the napkin. the back is a dark wine red, you can see a glimpse of it to the left of the top-facing napkin.

I am kind of confused by that picture. Does it look kind of blurry to you too? It's weird, some parts look clear, others blurry. maybe my eyes are starting to give out on me. It's my only one of a single napkin front so I had to use it. please forgive me if it's just a bad picture! I'm really trying to be better and more conscientious of the photos I take.

I chose that print because Nikki spent some time in Paris, and I remember her telling me about some of her travels in Europe. I've never been there myself, but this reminded me of that, with the fancy flowers, swirlymagigs (I can imagine this embedded in the ancient architecture, moldings, etc), French script, and Paris passport stamps.

with one of my plates

I am so glad she liked the fabric, and she told me she was really needing a set of napkins. They just got a new dining table and she said that they looked great together. As if I had seen their table and made the set accordingly. I don't know how I am so lucky with picking these sorts of things out!

the whole set and pouch

There are six napkins and a linen pouch to store them in. The tutorial is awesome, I was able to follow it on my own, with little to no prior sewing experience to make that first set for Ash. Next time I make these though, I think I will make the napkins a bit bigger. I have long legs and they had just a little extra over my lap. I don't think they could even begin to think about covering Ryan's lap, plus I like a nice big napkin. Half the time I'm using them to keep my legs warm anyways. =)

tucked away inside their pouch

Ryan was impressed when I showed them to him, he thought they looked like something you would buy at a department store. I made sure to be as impeccable as possible, but I thought he was being overly nice, because he loves me and is always complimenting me like that. I talked to Nikki after she got them, and she said that when she opened the gift, she and her mom could not tell if I had made them or not. I had attached washing instructions, but did not say if I had made them and they had a hard time telling the difference. Can't say that I'm not proud of that. =) So Ash, if you want a better version of that napkin set, just let me know, k? You can tell me if you want different fabric too. I can whip it out for ya.

The last part of the gift was a game, since they helped me establish game nights down here. It's the Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. I don't remember if I raved about this game yet on here, but it's awesome. It's for large groups (you need a minimum of 8, and can get up to 50!) and it is a lot like the Mafia game. I've never played Mafia myself, but others who have played both say that Werewolves is more fun. The overall point of the game is the same, but there are special characters and situations that add some nice twists and keep the things interesting. We love it here (we've even had a department game featuring the game and that never happens here), and it's spreading like wildfire at my sisters' college campuses. Since Nick comes from a family of 8 and all his siblings pretty much have their own families, I knew they would have enough people to play. This is what the game cover looks like. It's just a small box with a set of cards, and their is also an expansion pack. I have both, bought from Amazon and it's so worth it.

Get this game I tell you!

at the Iguana Grill on Lake Travis celebrating my 25th birthday
(me, Ryan, Chris, Nick, Nikki)

Congratulations on your new house Nick and Nikki! Hope to catch up with you guys in person sometime soon.

My Cousin is Cool

2010-02-22T18:56:00.012-06:00

This post is a shout out to my cousin, Alyssa. She is one of the So. Cal 9 (the 5 from my family, 2 from Tante San [Willem and Meryl], and Tante Bay [Alyssa and Brad]), so we grew up together and we're all really close.

Alyssa

She is an officer in the Coast Guard, and 2009 graduate from the US Coast Guard Academy.

My sisters and I with her during graduation weekend
(Chanelle, Ashley, Alyssa, me, Ingrid)

She is currently up in Kodiak, Alaska patrolling the Bering Sea and keeping up the fishing regulations/ law enforcement on the boats up there. There is also a lot of drug smuggling that goes by way of those northern waters, so they patrol and monitor that situation as well. scary! The ship, or more properly cutter, she is assigned to is the U.S.S. Munro. I'm not remembering all the stats, but it's one of the best cutters in the Coast Guard. She actually gets to steer the ship, turning it around, driving out of the harbor and out to sea. Talk about responsibility! Here it is:

This photo was actually taken by a crew member's wife from the dock. Alyssa is manning the wheel at the very moment!

One day, they were notified to board another cutter, not knowing that she was going to be going aboard the Wizard! She was filmed on the Deadliest Catch doing safety rounds, log book checks and all that good stuff. . . though I am not sure if it aired yet this season.

A picture of them leaving the Wizard. That's Alyss!
Brrrr. . . that water looks mighty cold.

It's king crab season. In Alaska. Thusly, crab is cheap. For her. So she sent a whole boatload (maybe not quite that much) to California, and my whole family (minus me) feasted on crab. Oh no, my mouth is watering again. She spent over $200 on the shipping (wowzers), such a sweet way for her to spoil all of them. lucky people I tell you!

The whole point of being stationed up there is to log hours doing all kinds of various duties. While her main objective is to act as assistant boarding officer and law enforcement, she also does things like help Coast Guard helicopters safely land on deck (landing signals). You can imagine this gets pretty hairy at night and when it's storming. The Bering Sea is not a nice place, especially in the heart of winter. Yet she and her crewmates know how to make it fun. . .

You know that's Alyss in the middle

Oh, and on off days she gets to do fun things like snow mobiling, shooting, hiking, 4-wheeling, making friends with bald eagles, etc. Yes, I said making friends with bald eagles.

Ok, seriously?

Am I the only person jealous here? =) I know her job isn't safe, she's worked her tail off to get there and continues to do so everyday. Yet despite the difficulty, I know she is having some amazing adventures and quite the time of her life.

Isn't he amazing?

Love you Alyss, and praying for your safety out there! Can't wait to see you in the summer.

Unrelated, but maybe kind of is since most of these pictures have snow. . . it's snowing here today! I mentioned it yesterday and boy was I skeptical. I thought we were going to get sleet at best. Sure enough, at 4:00 this morning I heard it skipping against my window. Did not enjoy it at all on the drive in (a tea latte had to make up for that) (Mom, I decided to drive in case they shut down all the buses and there was no way home, don't worry, I was and will be careful) due to all the overly-slow driving. See this post regarding that. Anyhow having Lisa, one of my students, shout out in class today, "Vanessa, it's snowing!" quite giddily, and everyone pausing their lab experiments to gaze in awe, smile and laugh, gush, "Ooooh, that's a big one!", then complain about not being able to be outside made up for all of that. I'm pretty sure I even squealed. And I have proof.

1) I am looking out my window and it just started coming down again. This morning, there were HUGE chunks. You don't know how hard it was not to run out of my lab section this morning when it started snowing. It sucks when you really have to stay inside! Ok, but that is just my word right here. In case you don't believe me. . .

2)

I know, another weather report

But did you see that? Not just snow, but heavy snow. K, just checkin.

3) These were taken while I was teaching, from a dirty iron-paned glass window, from the fifth floor, and I'm sorry (perhaps more for myself than you) that I was not able to be outside. I REALLY wanted to be outside. The hugest snow flakes were falling. I'm talking lumps of snow nearly the size of my palm sometimes. Does that mean it's wet snow? Because they are sticking together? I don't know, having grown up in Cali, where it's essentially desert, I'm not a snow expert.

Yes, those are flakes!

This was near the beginning of when it started falling. There were times when the whole outside was white.

Over the trees for some better contrast against the dark leaves

And of course my camera battery is low, so my picture taking today to chronicle this fabulous event is going to be minimal. big time boo.

the aftermath of those heavy morning showers. You can see it accumulated on the tin roofing, and in the flower beds.

Besides that, this is so fun. Even if I have to be at school. I love looking outside my window at the furious little flurries. They're really little right now (the flakes) and still swirling around, but it is supposed to continue until the end of the day. It's hard to believe our local high was 83 degrees only two days ago!

Sheesh, it is still snowing. All through the time it took to write this post, including uploading, editing and placing pictures, finding them online (Alyssa's fb pics) and writing. I'm in love.

I'm having an AWESOME day. Hope you are too!

All About the Weekend(s)

2010-02-22T10:45:00.002-06:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's weekend! I did. Our weather has been kind of cold, but I don't mind being cooped up indoors for a little bit. I did some not-so-spring cleaning. Washing the walls. and the base boards. cabinets too. REALLY good vacuuming. dusting. even those bits that collect so well on the fan blades and in the air vents. all the laundry. then I lit some lavender candles and did lots of sewing. That's why you guys got those tease photos of Myla's quilt. I had so much fun. I haven't gotten to do that much crafty stuff in a long time. Usually when I do things it's because I have to. I am leaving for a wedding that week and I need a wedding present. Or it's someone's birthday. You know. And while I do have a stack of things that I "need" to do (like Myla's quilt because she was born just over two months ago), things that are bugging me because I don't like having a bunch of unfinished things left around waiting to be given to that special person to commemorate that significant moment in their life, there isn't that big of a rush for when I get them done. Gifts like those can be given at almost any time. I put those deadlines on myself.
So I had a really fun weekend of sewing, because I decided to do so for myself. And now I'm wishing I could all the time. Maybe someday.
Anyhow, Ryan got me some great presents. Gingher goodies!

rotary cutter

I already had one, but it was the cheap-o one from Joann. It get's the job done, but it's not something that will really last. And when Joann has a 30% off sale for a President's Day sale, you gotta thank honest Abe (along with our many other great presidents) and let your man treat you once in a while. Am I right? This thing cuts so smoothly. I'm excited for when I'll have the time to use it more often. I'm thinking I'll send the other one to my sisters. To my knowledge, they don't have a rotary cutter and they only do light sewing, so I think it will suit them well.

Also, new thread snippers.

it's a cute stork!

I had snippers (emphasis had), some my sister Ashley got me, and they got lost when I brought them up to Oklahoma at Thanksgiving. I looked everywhere for them. sad. These guys will do as a replacement though. I love watching the stork open and close his beak as he snips my thread. I'm very easily amused.

So I spent most of the weekend, using some of my new tools in working on Myla's quilt. Sunday night Ryan and I went to the Alamo to see a movie. Jeff Bridges, one of Ryan's favorite actors, has a new movie out called Crazy Heart. I had no idea what it was about, Ryan didn't really either, but it was Jeff Bridges, so it had to be good. It WAS good! It's a musical , not like Moulin Rouge but more like Walk the Line, and it is country music. Jeff Bridges sings. So does Colin Farrell. What? not expected. I was pleasantly surprised, they are both really good, and the story was great too. I am sure Ryan will end up buying it when it comes out. I love films where the actors do things like singing and playing the guitar or other instruments. It adds a whole other dimension to them, and I respect them all the more for it, especially if they weren't very musical before the project.

They actually filmed a part of the movie at a Toby Keith concert in New Mexico in 2008, so it's a live performance. Pretty crazy. Take a peek:

We had some time to kill before the movie, so we went to Barnes and Noble. I went upstairs to the craft section to check out Alicia Paulson's book, Stitched in Time. She is the wonderful artist who wrote the pattern I used for Myla's quilt, and I love visiting her blog. It's definitely in my top three. I love her style, her writing, and she is a big inspiration for me. Everything over there just seems so magical.

Ryan ended up getting that for me too!

I'm such a spoiled girl.

This weekend, so funny how time always manages to fly right on by, was really nice too. Yesterday was absolutely GORGEOUS. It was about 75 degrees and sunny with a light breeze. Our first warm day of the year. Oh man, I soaked that up. Ryan and I went to a UT baseball game, part of their opening weekend. Emma and James joined us there (she is a first year in our group and my workout buddy). For someone who seems to fail to have an internal thermostat and maintain her own body temperature, it was so nice to wear a sundress outside and not need to be bundled up in warm-ups and a sweater. I even got a little sunburned on my shoulders.

However, I am confused. How can you go from that sort of weather to expecting 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow? Really, I just checked the weather, because it is brrrrrr. . . cold outside right now.

Our Newest Family Member

2010-02-20T12:16:00.004-06:00

Meet Brooklyn Nichole Van Delden.

Check out that head of hair!

She was born on the 18th, at 8 pounds 6 ounces. And she is perfect.

A picture of a picture. She's holding her daddy's finger.

My uncle was in the operating room when they were delivering her (C-section). When they took her out, he said she looked around, took a big breath and started crying. Then he made a cooing sound (which he routinely did when he would talk to her when she was inside Kelly) and she stopped, looked in his direction and went to sleep. How cool is that?

My mom and sisters keep telling me is super soft and has that yummy baby smell. Kissing those cheeks is like kissing butter. I am SO jealous. Isn't she a total cutie?

The nurses kept talking about how big her feet were. Her older sister, Brianna, is tall and plays volleyball. Looks like Brooklyn could be following in her footsteps!

Congratulations Oom Tiki, Kelly and Brianna. I love you guys!

Want to see something AMAZING?

2010-02-16T17:22:00.002-06:00

Head over to Lisa's blog The Blue Dress. now.

It's stunning. I can't get it out of my head. It never occurred to me that a quilt didn't have to be a bunch of squares sewn together. The possibilities are endless!

She's one of my heroes. For reals, I got in touch with my crafty side after feeling so inspired from stumbling upon her blog one day.

thanks Lisa.

Ducks, and then a Tease

2010-02-15T16:10:00.011-06:00

And so the hunting saga continues....

Once we had arrived in southern California, we celebrated my brother's birthday on Christmas Eve. We had a delicious home-cooked meal and the great company of family and a few close friends. Then, Christmas Day, we DIDN'T celebrate Christmas. I know, what's wrong with us? Well we didn't do Christmas in the sense of opening presents and all that. Why, you ask? As I am sure I've mentioned before, my family (immediate and extended) is rather large and we all celebrate Christmas together. At least in the good old days before everyone grew up and moved away. We also have the Secret Santa thingamagig which I mentioned when Ryan got his hunting gear. With this year being quite lean compared to most, we knew there weren't going to be a whole lot of presents, so the Secret Santa and white elephant exchanges were going to be a highlight. Oom Tiki and his girls were going to be with Kelly's family on Christmas day. AND, Tante San, who now lives in the great wet state of Washington, was in Vegas with Mem, who had to work until the 27th, but then they were going to come to see us. So we decided to hold off on all the present opening until everyone could be here with us and participate in the special events like old times. So, our "Christmas" was on the 28th. It was a good time, though not quite like old times since we were missing some people (mainly Alyss and Willem) but nearly everyone was there. Also, Tante San was flying out the next morning, so there was not enough time to make the big Dutch-Indo spread that she used to do. Anyhow, we were going to have another family classic, sate with spicy peanut sauce and cucumber salad, for dinner followed by opening presents on the evening of the 28th. Jopie took Ryan out to Salton Sea for duck hunting earlier that day.

With a morning that started at 3am, it was a trekker. I didn't get to go so I couldn't get any pictures while they were out there. But here's what I got when they came back.

seven birds total: 1 coot, 2 greenheads and 4 ruddies

Did you know Daffy Duck is a coot? Aw, sad. These aren't just from Ryan and Oom Jopie, the Robs also went with them (Jopie's friend Rob, and his son "little" Rob). Ryan got three of the birds. Actually, funny story. It seems that with duck hunting, you can't really just go out to the lake/pond and go hunting. There are clubs and special days, yadda, yadda, and certain times you should go to increase your chances of getting some birds. Ducks can be elusive creatures. Basically, you want to go on days when other hunters are out there, so that the birds they scare come flying over to you, and vice versa. OR, you want to go on a day that is cold, windy, rainy and basically, miserable. This is because the ducks will constantly be moving around to find a better place to sit on the water, and they might come towards you. However, the day that the boys went, it was sunny and was the hunting club's off-day. No one was out there (this is why Oom Tiki didn't go). Well Oom Tiki called one of his friends who lives/works? out there to ask him if he has seen anybody(my uncle and the boys) and the guy says, "No, it's been really quiet. There's no one out here. Well except for these two fat guys in a canoe rowing around the lake." Oom Tiki says that this cannot be my uncle because he knows that you don't want to be rowing around in a canoe! You need to be in a duck blind waiting for the birds to come your way. Oom Tiki relayed this conversation to all of us back at home since we were waiting for Oom Jopie and Ryan to return from the trip. They didn't have their cell phones on them while they were out hunting, and the drive back is through the desert and the boonies with no signal, so we had no idea what is was like until they returned and we got to ask them how it went. This was their response..." Oh, it sucked until we got the canoe out." At that point, we all just started busting up laughing while they looked at us cluelessly, because what could possibly be funny about rowing around in a canoe? Apparently Jopie took command of the canoe, rowing around to make the birds fly while the others got to shoot. Each of the other guys took turns sitting at the front of the canoe shooting and moving to different locations around the lake. Since there was no rain, wind or other hunters around to do that job, Jopie was a good sport and rowed around all day. Hilarious story though.

The ruddies aren't edible. While they don't taste very good, I think because they are mud-sifters, they have high levels of toxins in them. The coot is not edible either, but the greenheads are.

Can see that gleam of green on their heads?

You have to look hard, but it's more obvious in the photo of Ryan holding them. Their feathers, particularly the down on the their bellies, are sooo soft. Actually feeling what goes inside those down pillows and comforters lends a great understanding as to why they are so luxe.

daytime. aren't they pretty?

Don't worry. . . we didn't let that meat go to waste!

mmmm....Asian duck pizza.

Not the prettiest, but it sure was yummy. Ryan says this was the best pizza he'd ever had. While it was good, I don't know if I would go that far. I am sure his manly pride was having a severe effect on his taste buds. =) Duck meat is pretty strong and has a distinct taste, I don't think I'd ever really had it prior to this. I'm glad that we did something where the flavor was more diffuse, rather eating a whole stuffed duck or something. The greenheads are also fairly small, like a cornish game hen, once they are dressed, so there was not a whole lot of meat to begin with. We got the crust from Trader Joe's. So good. I'd make more homemade pizzas, except we don't have a Trader Joe's here. Guess I have to go exploring for a good equivalent.

Oom Tiki took Ryan out on another trip, with more "ideal" conditions, but they didn't get anything. Bummer. But that goes to show you never know what you're going to get. Ryan had so much fun though, and I know he's aching to go out with my uncles again in the fall. Thanks Oom Jopie and Oom Tiki for showing him such a good time!

This man is SO proud of these birds.

Want to see a bit of something I am really proud of? It's not quite done yet, but I worked really (like really) hard on it this weekend. My fingers are sore. I hope this makes you smile as much it did me!

sneak peek of Myla's quilt top outside

on the floor getting ready for a sandwich!

I'm about to burst with excitement to show you more . . . but it will have to wait. Don't worry, I have other things to share in the mean time. Happy Monday!

Brooklyn's Birthday!

2010-02-10T15:56:00.007-06:00

So baby Brooklyn's birthday has been set. . . February 18th! She is in the upright position, so they have scheduled a C-section. I just found out that I was like that too, then turned and ended up being a week early. Maybe she will also turn and come early, otherwise that is when we can expect to see her! Can't wait.

As another part of her Christmas present, I made 12 burping cloths. These are just Gerber cloth diapers ($8.00 at Walmart), with some fabric bordered by a ribbon sewed onto them. This way, they are obviously burping cloths, and not a diaper! Wouldn't want to get those switched, even if it was washed. yuck. All in all, I'd say these are around $20 for supplies, and then time and love to make. But I think they are really special, and would love to get some cute burping cloths when I eventually welcome a little one . . . or I could just make them for myself.

There are two of each type of print. The ribbons may vary.

These were SO much easier to make than the ones I did for Nolan. For one, the diaper cloths were actually diapers. The ones before were just like, huge cloth squares. I bought the exact same thing. Maybe a lack in quality control? not sure. I had to resize his, which ended up being a lot more work. Erinn loved how they were so big though.

I think I am going to be making these for every person I know that has a baby. They are just that simple, and I think, practical. Question though: I made the fabric and ribbon strips go across the width of the cloth rather than from top to bottom. It seemed to me like you wouldn't want to rub baby's face with some ribbon since it can be a bit coarse. I've been asked why I didn't run these lengthwise. Makes sense to you guys, right?

Some closeups of the prints . . .

I love those dots. They remind me of sherbert ice cream for some reason. Oh how I am longing for some warm spring/summer days right now. We are COLD here. Like 25 degrees lower than our usual for this time of year. I was walking back to lab in sleet/ rain/ hail/ ice / craziness today.

Ugh. I need to pay more attention to my photos! Sorry I was in a hurry. The monkey is upside-down, but it says "little monkey". And the one to the left of it says, "sweet baby, miracle baby". I think all of these prints are super cute. The furthest left is a baby animal with its mommy (zebras, elephants, giraffes, etc.) I got all of the prints at Joann. Hmmm....don't mind the ironing board cover though. yikes. Maybe one of my sisters can make my mom a new one (hint, hint girls!).

The one in the pink has the names and pictures of various animals (horsey, piggie, ducky, etc) including giraffes. Kelly's daughter, Brianna, squealed when she saw them. She loves giraffes.

all folded up and ready to be wrapped up with snuggle bunny!

I sewed these up the day that they were going to be opened (they were coming over for presents that evening). I couldn't have done it without Meryl. She was my pinning hero since the pinning takes the longest. She pinned while I sewed and we finished right on time. I love you Mem . . . you're awesome.

I can't wait for your birthday Brooklyn!

Pheasant Hunting

2010-02-10T15:46:00.002-06:00

Now that Ryan has all his gear, we're ready to go. We woke up relatively early the next morning, but it would have been earlier if it wasn't raining, and headed out to the fields. Once we got there, it was POURING. But Oom Jopie noticed a break in the clouds to the east, and so we decided to drive to a little town, I believe it was called Springfield, to scope out places for breakfast. This was a SMALL town, like 1800 people, but we managed to find a little diner whose biscuits and gravy were raved about by people leaving it. Biscuits and gravy is probably Ryan's favorite breakfast, so we rode out the storm there. After having our fill of warm food, coffee, and listening to their cook sing along with the old country western tunes, we headed back to the fields to find that the storm had moved on. While it was pretty chilly, the sun was starting to break through the clouds.

Seriously, look how dark those clouds are. Just to the left are the cold, snowy Sierra Nevadas.

Shelby couldn't wait to get out and start looking for some birds. She would run from bush to bush, sniffing and looking, while we waited for her to show a point. It looks kind of like this. . .

but not really. Mom IS holding a pretty nice point though.
Shelby continued to work the bushes, she is a Brittany spaniel by the way.

And so did Mom.

Just kidding! This woman is hilarious.

We walked and walked, just waiting for Shelby to find something.

Oom Jopie (left) and Ryan

We found a cute, rustic windmill. I like windmills.

and enjoyed the view of the pretty outdoors.

cloud-hidden, snow-covered Sierras

I love the mountains. It didn't rain the whole time we were out there, but it was totally storming just over there.

Pretty much what the entire landscape looked like. A lone pair of trees. Piles of sage brush here and there. Then another cluster way over there. And we'd have to walk to it, because Shelby, with her amazing supply of endless energy was already over there scoping out the bushes and you didn't want a bird to fly and not be there. It was funny, because she would be sticking to a bush and Jopie would tell Ryan to go run over and wait for her to point, and so Ryan would. If it was my other uncle, Oom Tiki, they would argue with each other about whose turn it was to run over to Shelby, then watching the bird fly out and neither of them were there to get it. Then they'd just laugh at each other. Jopie enjoyed Ryan's eagerness to learn and get something.

It was so muddy. I wish had thought to get a picture, but the mud attaches itself and grows on your boots. And you end up with a whole clod of mud, wet grass and leaves stuck to your shoe so that you are carrying an extra few pounds on your legs. exhausting. I think Ingrid is trying to show me here.

sage and hills

There's the pheasant farm. There is some guy that raises the pheasants and lets them out periodically over the season. He has to do that since they are easy hawk/eagle/coyote prey and they often get pushed up into the hills behind his farm (where you're not allowed to hunt - there's a fence). So he ensures that there are birds for hunting.

the Farm

more walking . . .

Ingrid and Ryan

The boys (Ryan, Jopie and my dad) and Shelby also ended up sweeping the whole other side of the field. Mom, Ingrid and I huddled together on a log not too far from the windmill and busted out the snacks. Sadly there weren't any birds, or pheasant at least. Ryan shot at a dove but missed - they were in season too. Shelby was so cute, because she was getting so frustrated about not finding anything. She whined and whined. It was so sad. And she was a tired little girl too.

The Shelbs

She slept with Ingrid and I. Every time one of us would shift or move, you'd hear her let out this huge exasperated sigh, like "guys, would you please let me sleep in peace!" We went out again the next day too. It was sunny and much warmer, but still no birds. We heard one though, crying out as if jesting at us because we couldn't try to find him. He was on the other side of the fence. O pheasants, just wait until next year....

Let's Go Hunting

2010-02-03T11:07:00.009-06:00

Here come the posts about the hunting trips! A did a short blurb a while ago right after we got back from California just briefly highlighting our trip. I had booked our flight with Jet Blue, and on our flight out, we had a layover in San Francisco with Long Beach as our final destination. Oom Jopie has an old buddy who lives in Sonoma who got his PhD from Stanford, and they thought it would be cool to pick us up in San Fran, go tour the Stanford campus (Ryan is applying for post-docs there) and relax a little bit in beautiful Sonoma county. We were quite brain-dead since we had both stayed up all night trying to pack and prepare for the trip and make sure things were squared away in Austin and good for us to go (long story that I can't really get into on here). Point is, it was quite an exhausting experience just to make sure we could leave Austin. Follow that with a bumpy flight complete with crying babies and no sleep, and we were running on fumes. It was good though, we were LEAVING.

Jopie and Ingrid were awesome and did the drive to San Francisco to pick us up. We visited Stanford then stayed in Sonoma for a day and a half. We didn't get to see any of the wineries, we mostly stayed at Carlos' place. They were very generous hosts. We were tired and his family was great company so we visited with them. Their house was very cute, kind-of ranch style, with some sheep, chickens running around everywhere, cats lounging about as if they owned the place, dogs and even a horse. Ok, scratch that "kind-of" it WAS ranch style. Jopie and Ingrid has gotten up there a couple days before we flew in and were helping Carlos build a new shelter and manger since one of the ewes was suspected to be pregnant. They also have their own mini-vineyard (I think they have about 750 vines, I don't remember what types) but they do some of their own wine-making so we did get to do some wine tasting and learn about the process. It looked like a really fun hobby! Carlos opened up 6 different bottles of wine (don't worry we didn't drink all of them!) but I sure did sleep well that night. I think Ryan fell in love with northern California. It's absolutely beautiful, even while it was raining our whole time there. Shame on me for not taking pictures of it. Didn't even think about it.
Then we headed down to Porterville, a small agricultural town at the base of the Sierras for some pheasant hunting. Jopie also has a friend who has a house there so we had another great place to stay. We planned to be there for about three days then finally head down to Riverside for Ben's birthday (Christmas Eve). Pheasant season ended Christmas day, so we were taking a gamble that there would be birds left but we had to go and give it a shot.
Since my family celebrates Christmas with all the cousins, aunts, uncles and extras, we do a Secret Santa gift exchange so that no one is left out, and no one goes broke trying to get a gift for every single person. Ryan's secret santa (he lucked out and got Brooklyn's mommy!) totally spoiled him. Kelly and Oom Tiki sent his gift up with my parents since they were meeting us in Porterville to bring Shelby, my uncle's hunting dog. He got to open his gift early since he would most likely need some of these things for hunting.

that's a pretty big box of goodies

waterproof camo jacket. PERFECT for duck hunting

a vest and hat

trying 'em on

a handy knife set

"Who has two thumbs, is completely set up with nice hunting gear and ready to get some birds tomorrow?" This guy.

Ha ha, my ode to The Office. actual pheasant hunting coming next time....

Brooklyn Nichole's Birthday Month

2010-02-01T13:40:00.005-06:00

It's February! That means my new little cousin, Brooklyn Nichole, is coming this month! I am SO excited. I can't wait to see her cute little face, smile, fingers and toes. I am so sad that I won't be in California to see her right away, but I know my sisters will be taking lots of pictures for me. I am so happy for Oom Tiki and his family to welcome their new little one so soon!

I was not able to go to Kelly's baby shower so I had to get my gifts done in time as Christmas presents. First up, the snuggle bunny.

I like how she looks kind of vintage style baby toy. The yarn is Bernat baby softee in soft peach. I made her eyes and nose with brown embroidery floss. I used a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn for her, the fuzzy bunny pattern. I used polyester fiberfill to stuff her head. That used to be the only fill Joann's had, but I was just there yesterday and discovered that now they carry a bamboo fill. It's more expensive, but from now on, that's what I am going to use. It's natural and SO much softer....very yummy for soft baby presents and stuffed animals.

The yarn isn't fuzzy, but it is very soft. And I think she turned out really cute. I hope Brooklyn loves her!

And, I know, I had said I would post about the hunting trips....like TWO WEEKS AGO. I don't know what happened...it's been a blur. I'll do it though, promise. =)

Cool Concept

2010-01-27T10:58:00.002-06:00

So Ryan just discovered this place in Austin called: Odd Duck to Farm Trailer. He read about it on his bus ride this morning. It's a little restaurant out of a trailer, but this guy buys only local produce and meat from farmers around town.

I think this is really, really cool. Ever since watching that film, Food, Inc. I have completely changed how I have been eating.

No fast food. (it's been over a month)

Bringing lunch everyday. Eating A LOT more fruits and veggies.

Making dinner/ eating at home...even if I get home really late.

No soda, and really trying to avoid things with high fructose corn syrup.

Those are the biggest changes but for me, they are major. It takes a lot of work to meal plan and go shopping to eat healthy. Its even harder to do these things when you have only one day off of work. I've also been trying to be better about WHERE I am getting my food from, farmers markets, etc. (Sprouts, Sun Harvest, Whole Foods and Central Market are places I frequent now since the only real farmers market is currently only open in the middle of my work days). Which also means trips to different stores since I have not found a single place that has everything on my list. time consuming. I am not complaining, I am sure there are people more busy than I, but that's the whole reason those food corporations have been so successful....because they make food convenient. And cheap. But, I've been faithful and sticking to this resolution. And it's worth it. I feel great. Ryan feels great. (I have been packing lunches for him too). His pants fall off of him now, so besides feeling good, he is actually seeing the benefits of eating this way too.

But this brings me back to why I think this new place sounds really cool. Even at the so-called farmers markets, I see blueberries, raspberries, apricots, and all kinds of summer fruits for sale. what?!?! It's WINTER here. even in Austin. When you look at the label, it's from Mexico or Chile. Americans are so spoiled. So accustomed to having what they want, when they want it, despite the practicality. Needless to say, I am slightly disappointed...that even at the "farmers market" I have to be wary about the produce I buy. Don't buy produce from Mexico or Chile! I don't know how much gas it takes to get produce from down there to up here, but I just calculated the distance from Arica, Chile (at the very northern end) to Austin and its 3828 miles. That is A LOT of gas people! AND their pesticide regulations are nowhere near as strict as the US (which I think even some currently used here are questionable), so you're definitely getting some extra (not) goodies with your purchase.

So yeah, I think this guy's place sounds pretty cool. He rotates daily menus and plans them based on what is in season here. Ryan and I will go check him out and show our support.

The Trailer. Looks cute, huh?

Some Things to Know About Austin

2010-01-16T17:28:00.007-06:00

Thank God for holidays. I am at the lab today, just to take care of a couple things, but will cut out a bit early. In general, we have learned that we have strength in numbers, so most of the American students in the group (which is now a significant portion) as well as a few of the foreign post-docs are going to be coming over to my apt. complex for some grilling. It is kind of chilly outside, so the guys will probably handle the outdoor food prep, and then we will hang out, eat inside and play some games. I'm hoping I can fit some sewing in later on . . . I didn't get nearly as much done (craft wise) as I was hoping this weekend. Time flies when you have tons of errands to run. More about the hunting trips later on, but in the meantime . . . I saw this and thought it was too funny. Not only that, but having lived here for the past almost-five years, I have found all of these things to be true. Enjoy

A few observations for those of you who live here... or used to live here....or plan to live here.

1. First, it's pronounced AWS-TUN. It doesn't matter how they say it in other places.

2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Austin has its own set of traffic rules. There's no book about them. All you can do is get in your car and hope you survive to learn them.

3. All directions start with "Go down Mopac... 'cause you don't want to get on I-35. Oh, yes, Mopac is Loop 1.

4. Burnet Road, Braker Lane, and Lamar Blvd. have no beginning and no end.

5. It is impossible to go around a block and wind up on the same street that you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls this a scenic drive.

6. Stay away from the Congress Ave. bridge at sundown if you do not like the thought of being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. (Largest Mexican Free Tail Bat Population in the US )

The bats leaving the bridge at sundown, taken from shewhopaints' flickr stream

7. The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30am to 9:30am . The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:30p to 7:15pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.

8. If you actually stop at a yellow light, then you cannot be from Austin . Green means "GO"; Yellow means "GO"; and Red means "three more of y'all can GO". You may only apply your brakes at the end of a yellow light and the beginning of the red light when they create a burnt-orange hue. This is Longhorn Country, after all.

9. Just remember that -
- Mopac is Loop 1;
- Capital of Texas Hwy is 360;
- Hwy. 183 is Research Blvd. , Anderson Lane; Ed Bluestein or
the Old Bastrop Hwy ;
- Hwy. 290 is Lamar Blvd ;
- FM 2222 is Northland Dr., Bull Creek Rd., Allendale Rd.,
Bullick or Koenig Lane ...

Don't try to figure it out. Just accept it. If you question the intelligence behind this naming convention, people will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you.

10. If moisture is determined to be rain, and not sweat, all traffic must immediately come to a screeching halt; ditto for daylight savings time, a female UT student applying eye-shadow crossing the street, or a flat tire three lanes over.

11. DO NOT attempt to access any road after an apocalyptic event like ice, snow, SXSW (South by Southwest Music Convention). Construction on I-35 AND Hwy. 183 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. Get used to it! ( I also avoid being on the roads after a football game....if they're not leaving the stadium, they are leaving any place-of-business that shows the game and serves beer).

12. Attn: All telephone solicitors...DO NOT correct my pronunciation when I say I live in Manchaca , TX .. It's pronounced MAN-shack (just like a man living in shack). Also realize that the city of Manchaca (MANshack) is in Hays and Travis Counties , and there is also a very long street in Austin named Manchaca (MANshack)! The city of Manor and Manor Rd. are pronounced 'MAY-ner'. We don't like corrections on that either. And, for God's sake, DON'T pronounce the 'E' at the end of Guadalupe. It's Gwada-LOOP and we like it that way!

13. Burnet Road is pronounced BURN-it, not Bur-NET. Koenig Lane is pronounced KAE-nig not KOE-nig. The old airport (Robert Mueller) is pronounced Robert Miller and is on Airport Boulevard . The new airport (Austin-Bergstrom) is no where near Airport Boulevard . It's in the city of Del Valle pronounced Dell Valley !

14. Keep in mind that the sloppily dressed 'hippie' in worn-out sandals and earrings is probably the latest IPO millionaire around here.

15. Regardless of what you are told, the Capitol is CENTRAL AUSTIN, and yes, we do have a body of water splitting Austin into North Austin and South Austin and it is called "Town Lake" (by longtime Austinites, and Lady Bird Lake by newcomers) not the Colorado River (even though it is part of it).

a picture I found of a partial view of downtown from the southeast

16. And, yes, we all know that there's a man in a teddy and a tiara on Congress Ave. It's Leslie and he probably makes more money than you do. (Surely, you have a homeless, celebrity drag queen that likes to run for Mayor where you live, too, right?)

Leslie

**And you wonder why there are so many bumper stickers that say 'Keep Austin Weird'!**
And why Pflugerville (which is between Austin and Round Rock) residents wear tee shirts that say, Pflugerville -- Between a Rock and a Weird Place !!!!

This is a weird place, huh? There are so many things that Ryan and I see and we always end up saying "...only in Austin."

Hunting Adventures Pt. 1

2010-01-15T17:59:00.006-06:00

Check out that rainstorm moving away just as we were heading out into the fields. That beacon of orange there? That's my mom. Ingrid is so camo-ed out, I didn't notice her near the shrubbery until just now. Anyhow, more about our hunting trips next week.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. As for me, I have been good about tidying up the apartment this week, so besides a couple loads of laundry (I got behind because of pipes bursting and having my water shut off this week. I know, NOT FUN.) I don't have much housework to do. AND, it's supposed to be raining most of the weekend. I won't mind being cooped up indoors with some movies and WIPs (works in progress. It took me a while to figure out what that stood for when I first read it). No, siree. I have lots of things to finish up before I can even think about starting the things I want/need to start. Here's to a productive weekend!

Death by Chocolate

2010-01-13T16:13:00.006-06:00

I love chocolate. Who doesn't? One day over the break, everyone was over at my parent's house hanging out, preparing and waiting for dinner when my brother casually mentioned he was craving something sweet. So, I thought I would find a quick recipe for a yummy sweet treat. I needed something relatively fast and easy, and I wanted some chocolate, so a chocolate trifle sounded just right. Wow, the first time I made it, it disappeared! By the time it was done (everyone was so anxious for it, we didn't even let it set in the fridge), there were some who had drifted off to sleep and they didn't even get any. Hah! That's how it is in our family. When I said would make it again for the New Year's crowd, everyone was so excited. Really, this thing is that good.

Doesn't it look so pretty in Tante Bay's crystal bowl? I am sure there is a fancy name for it, but I don't know what it is. Actually, it's also a cake stand and cover! I didn't make nearly as much as this the first time, this is double the original batch. We had more people over, but it still did not make it through the next day!

DELISH

Want to know how to make it too?

Death by Chocolate (these amounts are for the big batch)

What you need:
2 packages instant chocolate Jell-o pudding
3 packages Dream Whip
2 boxes German chocolate cake mix
2 cups really strong coffee or espresso
2 lg. containers cool whip (I like really thick layers of cool whip! but you will still have some left over)
1 bag crumbled Heath chocolate toffee bars (as found in baking section)

What to do:
Bake cake as per box instructions. Let it cool.
Prepare pudding as per instructions, but also add the packages of Dream Whip and appropriate amount of milk. This makes the chocolate layers not as heavy and dense as pudding, but more mousse-like. You can opt to leave out the Dream Whip too, and I am sure it will taste just as heavenly.

When pudding/mousse is set and the cake is cooled begin making the layers in your trifle dish as such:
1) crumble the cake to completely cover the bottom of the dish.
2) distribute 1 c. coffee over the cake, thus soaking it.
3) spread a layer of the pudding/ mousse next.
4) next comes the cool whip layer.
5) sprinkle the Heath bar crumbles over the cool whip layer.
Repeat.

Let it set in the fridge for about an hour or so. Serve cold in pretty glasses and ENJOY!

The first batch

Due to the pressure of yummy-chocolate-dessert-craving family members surrounding me, I barely had time take these photos! What's really cool is you can add layers, and other toppings. The first one I made had strawberries too. I will be making this again for sure.

Aaron and Carmelita's Wedding Quilt

2010-01-12T21:21:00.012-06:00

This past August, my cousin Aaron got married! I am so glad I was able to go up to Oregon to celebrate their tying the knot. It was such a great time with all the Oregon cousins....it had been over 4 years since I had seen some of them! I love my family, because no matter how long it is between seeing each other, whenever we get back together, it's as if we've never spent a day apart. GOOD TIMES.

I had the hardest time deciding what to get them for a wedding present, so I tried to go for something more meaningful and special. They were registered at REI, so I figured they love to do outdoorsy things. Ding! Then I remembered Erin's picnic blanket, and I thought that would be the perfect thing to make for them.

I had never made a big blanket like this before, let alone one that is a sandwich (top, batting, back). So even though it's not really a quilt (or is it?) it kind of is. I only had the week leading up to the wedding, and since the top is not a complicated pattern I thought it would be doable and that I could finish it on time.

I was unsure about what colors to do, but I thought purple, green and white prints would look nice together, and made me think of the beautiful Oregon outdoors.

I got the top piece and the quilt sandwich finished just in time to be able to pack it up in my suitcase and leave for the airport. It was that close. I finished it off by adding the ties while I was up there in the time leading up to the wedding, which ended up being late the night before since we were all running around doing errands. It was all so much fun. Since it was late though, the lighting was bad and I did not get to take any pictures of it so these photos come by way of the bride herself. Thank you Carmelita!

A closer image of some of the prints.
(Pictures will open a bigger viewing window when clicked)

Rather than quilting the sandwich by machine or hand, it is tied down at the intersections of the squares and in the center of each square with white embroidery floss.

The pocket

Each corner has a pocket on the underside for rocks to be put in to weigh them down. No blankets blowing over and away in the wind! GENIUS idea.

It's pretty much queen-sized . . . I made it considerably larger than the pattern called for, which could fit two smaller sized people. At least this one can be taken out on future family outings. =)

I am so glad that they loved it. I don't think I could have chosen a more perfect thing to make. When Aaron proposed to Carmelita, he took her on a picnic to the Oregon coast. Her favorite color is purple, and the wedding colors were purple, green and white. I had no idea!! Pretty awesome, huh?

I love you guys!

The Dirty Dozen

2010-01-11T12:07:00.004-06:00

I did my grocery shopping yesterday and noticed that the organic produce section is considerably larger than it was when I first moved to Austin. This is awesome! Buying organic is great for you and the environment....but it's so expensive! So if you're on a tighter budget like I am, knowing which produce is really worth buying organic helps alot. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has put together a list of the Dirty Dozen. This is the list of vegetables and fruit that have the most pesticides on them. Why should you care?

Pesticides are designed to kill pests. As such, they are toxic. This means that ingested pesticides will cause damage to your body. This is especially true for children. The harms include: damage to hormonal sytem and nervous system, skin, eye and lung irritation, and carcinogenic effects.
Some stats by the EWG: those who eat the 12 most contaminated fruits and veggies ingest an average of 10 pesticides a day. On the other hand, those who ate the 15 most clean ingested fewer than 2 pesticides a day.
Washing and peeling don't help as much as you would think. Rinsing only reduces the amount of pesticide on the produce, but does not get rid of it. Peeling does eliminate any pesticidal residue, but it all the nutrients and vitamins in the skin are also lost.

The list

They also have a full list here. Go check it out. Eat smart and healthy!

I also found a database compiled of cosmetics and they rate them on a hazard scale based on their ingredients. Pretty cool! It's called Skin Deep.

It's good to be back

2010-01-08T13:57:00.002-06:00

I had a wonderful break in California spending Christmas, New Years and everything in between with Ryan and all my family. It was a REAL break, doing some traveling around but not too much where things are constantly go, go, go and you end up being more tired after the vacation than before.
Trip highlights:
We landed in San Francisco and spent the day there visiting Stanford since that is Ryan's top choice for applying for post-docs. Then we stayed with my uncle's friend and his family in Sonoma for another day to rest up from our extremely hectic day of preparing for our trip and travel (long, frustrating story that does really belong here). Nonetheless, our time with them was refreshing and I am pretty sure Ryan fell in love with northern California.
Then we headed down to Porterville for some pheasant hunting. Beautiful scenery, clean crisp air, good company....but no birds.
Back down to southern California for my brother's birthday on Christmas Eve. Christmas cookie-making with my sisters.
We actually didn't do a whole lot on Christmas day since we delayed opening presents and everything until the 29th when Tante San (who now lives in Washington) and Meryl came in from Vegas (Meryl had to work until the 28th but they wanted to celebrate with us so we waited for them). The 29th was an awesome day full of family, much like old times when we were all together.
Lot's of game playing.
Ryan did a lot of duck hunting with Oom Jopie and Oom Tiki. He got 3 ducks! He's definitely got the hunting bug now. He also spent a few days up in the mountain snow-shoeing with Oom Jopie, Ingrid and Brad. I couldn't go because I had my tea-date with the high school girlfriends, which was totally worth it.
Sight-seeing in the cold, with a hot tea latte, the Mister, Ingrid, Chanelle, Ashley and Stevie at the Festival of Lights downtown at the Mission Inn. Too bad everything was closed off inside....I wanted to explore but security was tight.
We saw a lot of movies. That's the nice thing about having nothing to worry about and being able to VEG. I am kind of movied out now though. We saw Avatar (awesome, but the 3D gives me a headache after a while), Invictus (great story), Sherlock Holmes (very entertaining) in theater and many others on DVD, including Food, Inc. Life-changing I tell you. I used to eat a lot more healthily before I came out here, but for someone that oftentimes doesn't leave work until it's already quite late, and is too tired to make something for herself and a convenient drive-thru dinner becomes "worth it" so that I get go to bed earlier and do it all over again, I would rather now go to bed on an empty stomach. And now knowing what goes into most of the food that is out there, indulging myself and eating whatever I want (as I have been doing these past few years - it's lazy, I know)....not anymore. What spending my money on food like that means for the planet, corporations who think they can run us around by monopolizing the agricultural industry and producing food that IS NOT GOOD for people but good for their pockets, animal treatment, and my own personal health....motivates me to be diligent about taking the time to plan out meals, be smart about what I buy, be better about enforcing a better work/life balance so that I can take care of myself (and helping Ryan to do so too), and knowing what it is I am eating. You are what you eat. The convenience, easiness, (and now) cheapness does not justify it at all! Really, you won't want to eat drive-thru again. go watch it.
We also went to San Diego to visit my cousin Briana and her husband, and catch up with some of the guys I met while interning at Pfizer.

I promise I'll have more posts detailing some of said highlights and crafts done, with pictures of course. My camera is dead, and I need to find my charger. . . I'm really hoping it didn't get left behind in Cali. Have a super fine weekend!

Coffee Cozies for Christmas

2009-12-18T15:53:00.004-06:00

Man oh man has this week been stressful. Ryan and I leave for California on Sunday morning. That's less than TWO days away! It doesn't feel like Christmas yet....I don't know when it's going to settle in. I have so many presents to make and haven't done a single one. I had a big presentation to do at work today, so everything has been leading up to that as well as making some big decisions regarding what my next step is. But, in all of this, despite a few nights of tears my path has been set. I'll plan on starting to write my thesis late January to defend in May with the hopes of starting up a new FRI research stream and doing a sort of teaching post doc. Every time I tell someone what I am doing, it sounds so surreal to say it, that my days here are finally numbered. It's a good feeling though. And I am so excited about potentially working with the FRI - Freshman Research Initiative - (we still have to write proposals so it is not 100% that I have the job, but chances are good). I love their mission, and I love the people involved. Getting to work with them at the TA level the past couple of years has been a real treat, so I can't wait to see what actually being a part of the program is like.

Yesterday afternoon though, I realized that today was the last day I would have on campus to see Penny, Rachel and Jenna before the Christmas holiday since they don't work on Saturdays. They are the angels in the graduate student office who look out for us and make sure everything is squared away with our research and TA appointments (basically make sure we get paid!) and help us out with anything they can. Penny is like a second mom to us. She's so awesome, and really is like reason number 2 that I chose to come to UT. She's just the best. Then I came to the realization that I needed to do something for these kind souls....QUICK! Enter Erin Harris and her awesome coffee cozy tutorial over at House on Hill Road. You know, like those cardboard thingies you put on your coffee cups.
I made it my mission to have all of my presentation slides completed before I got home and then to make said cozies as gifts. Luckily I had everything I needed in my stash, saving me a trip to JoAnn in the limited amount of time I had. All in all, it took me 3 hours to make the three cozies, including selecting, ironing and cutting fabrics and batting, all the way to wrapping and writing the cards. NOT BAD!! And once you've made one and figured it out, its WAY EASY after. Seriously, if you need a last minute gift this is awesome. And the ladies absolutely loved them when they opened them this morning!

Incredibly easy coffee cozies, to keep the hot in the cup and not on your hand.
Penny got the pink/brown in top left.
Rachel got the aqua/pink one front and center
Jenna got the green/purple.

Gosh I can't get over how easy these are!!

inside view. Sorry Jenna's blends in so well, I covered my ironing board with the same fabric so that it's cover wouldn't be so distracting.

I didn't have a paper coffee cup, but I put it on my water squirt bottle so you can see it in action. so cute!

Sorry I didn't get a pic of the final wrapped product....forgot. I didn't have any good little boxes or wrapping paper, but I did have some tulle. So I laid out a small square of tissue paper (the better for hiding presents with my dear) on top of a square of tulle, placed the cozy in the center and gathered this up around the cozy . I finished and secured it with tied curly red and gold ribbon. Looked pretty awesome for something on the fly!

AND...the presentation went really well today. Now that that's off my chest, can't wait to get home, make some presents and start packing for the trip to Cali!

I hope everyone has a WONDERFULLY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! See you in 2010!

I miss him

2009-12-09T16:02:00.006-06:00

Ramses

He has been gone over a week now. I let him outside for the day last Tuesday and he didn't come back that night. He has stayed out overnight before, perhaps because he was out of earshot and did not hear me calling for him, even though I really don't like it. But he has never been gone this long. I have been looking for him everyday and searched extensively on Sunday. I've also put out ads on Craigslist, gone to the animal shelter and search the ads everyday.
I miss him so much. I miss his squeaky cooing noises whenever I put out wet food or when I am cooking and he comes into the kitchen to beg for a taste. I miss him jumping and climbing on top of everything, as if he has conquered and now owns it, with overwhelming confidence. I miss just watching him, he was a sight. I have never seen any cat like him, he is so beautiful and regal. And boy is he fast. I miss him sitting patiently waiting as I cleaned the litter box and IMMEDIATELY after using it. Maybe he had a thing for super clean litter boxes or that was his way of claiming it. I miss him waiting for me in the window, watching me come down the stairs, then running to greet me with a little meow from his perch (the futon) as I walk through the door. I miss him trying to eat my dinner with me once I've finally gotten to sitting down and eating. He is always relentless and persistent. He likes to be a better wall than a window when I am watching a movie. I miss him helping me make the bed. He always has a fantastic ear for me pulling out the sheets and shaking them to open them up. He would right away jump on the bed underneath them, hiding and playing in his new cave. I miss him needing to sleep with me, and the couple nights before he left, he decided that he liked to share my pillow with me and would sleep next to my head.
There were things that he did too that bothered and annoyed me, which led to me putting him outside, but I miss these parts of him too. Like chewing up my headphones. Shredding up every roll of toilet paper that gets put on the holder thingie. Breaking my butter dish to get to the yummy goods inside. sneaking up on the counters to eat leftover food cooling off in the pans while I eat and watch TV, thus making me get up to find the spray bottle to make him get down and stop (only to repeat the whole process all over again). Knocking over my trash can. Jumping from my dresser to the bed and usually landing on my head. teasing Tesia which makes her mad, grumpy and growly. Ripping open loaves of bread and eating half of it, even though he had food out. I thought he was just too large and bored in my apartment and that he would like it outside better (he really is like a small dog). Maybe that's too true and he just prefers to be outside. I just hope he is ok, even if that means someone else has taken him in and gets to enjoy him.

My house just feels empty without him now. And I am still strongly hoping and praying he finds his way back.

my favorite picture of him

Myla's bunny

2009-12-05T14:43:00.008-06:00

Here are some pictures of the bunny I crocheted for Ryan's newest niece, Myla. She was born on Saturday morning. I made it for her while I was up in Stillwater. I had brought some yarn and materials to make the bunny on the drive up on Wednesday, but it just wasn't happening. First the yarn, while really nice (I still had a bunch of bamboo silk left over from Aunt K's hat) it looked kind of plain and since it was lightweight, the bunny was going to turn out being really small. Second, I got really sleepy in the car trying to crochet while Ryan drove, and I needed to be a good passenger and keep him company so I had to put it away. So for the rest of the trip...no more bunny making.

I had also brought some other yarn, a skein each of pretty cream and purple and I spent most of the day Saturday (while we were watching football)after Thanksgiving crocheting a hat. I ran out of yarn so I headed over to Hobby Lobby but they didn't have the same brand or colors, but they had TONS of other cute yarn so I grabbed some more to start that bunny again. I NEEDED to leave something with Jenny for Myla because I would be a bad future-aunt if I didn't. So, I proceeded with this project knowing full well that I would have to finish the whole thing before we left the next day. My mind was set and I was going to do it.
I grabbed the yarn and embroidery thread and headed back to the house. I started it at about 7pm and crocheted until 3am during which time I was able to finish the arms, legs and body. Then the next morning as soon as I got up and ate breakfast, I crocheted the ears, attached them to the body and embroidered the eyes, nose and mouth. I worked like a mad womane and even ended up with some blisters on my fingers but it was worth it because she turned out really cute! And the yarn, while already soft, is the type of cotton where you know it's going to get super soft with age, wear and love. I hope Myla likes it. I'm secretly hoping it becomes her "baby"....the one toy that kids cannot go to sleep or leave the house without.

It is about 12" tall, and is made of a variegated cream, light pink, magenta and brown cotton yarn. I'm forgetting what brand it is at the moment...I think it is Bernat cottontots.

I would definitely use this yarn again, it works up very nicely and is really soft.

it really is the perfect baby snuggle bunny

Isn't she cute?

isn't she cuter? her eyes are so big!

Jenny and Myla - you both look great!

Myla - she has the cutest little button nose. She's perfect

I took these last three photos from Jenny's facebook page. =)

Next step: sewing

2009-12-05T14:41:00.004-06:00

I cut all the fabric into squares for Myla's quilt. I did this about 2.5 weeks ago. I started sewing them into strips and things seemed to be running along smoothly enough to possibly get it to Jenny when I went up to Stillwater for Thanksgiving. Well, then I hit a few snags. Literally. I had finished sewing the individual strips and had just begun to sew the strips together to start making the quilt top, when my machine decided it was going to only make a few stitches and then knot everything up. Why? Why does it do that? I changed the needle. That wasn't it. I messed with the tension. That wasn't it. I took a break and decided to come back the next night. Nope, problem still there. It seemed like when I rethreaded the needle that it got better, and it hasn't really had the same problem since. I guess I can easily do that again next time it happens, but does anyone know why machines wig out like that? It'd be nice to know.
Ok, so I got it working fine again but then as I was beginning to stitch the strips together, the seams weren't lining up perfectly. what the... It's not like I have some complicated pattern I am trying to follow. Just sewing squares together! So either, on my late night of cutting (because I did do it very late one night in my determined-ness to get it done in time) I messed up somehow. maybe I didn't measure exactly 4 inches for each square, or as I cut them (since I folded the fabric and cut so that it would go faster) there was some slippage here and there resulting in unevenly sized squares? I don't know. When I asked Ryan what he thought, he said it's not that big of a deal, and that he didn't even notice it until I pointed it out to him. He didn't think Jenny would notice eithr. Well, I can't give someone a baby quilt for her first baby and not have it be immaculate. So, needless to say, I did not bring a baby quilt with me up to Stillwater. I can't forever be remembered as the aunt who sews crooked quilts. Here are some shots of the fabric squares though. They are so cute. SO CUTE. I can't wait to see the finished quilt.

I LOVE that blue and white Sunbonnet Sue print from Windham fabrics.
Wouldn't that just make the cutest little dress?

three solids, ten prints, one hundred sixty 4" squares and one very sore arm.

I think these will make such a sweet little baby quilt!

And it works out great because Myla was born this morning! Now I can also embroider her full name and birthday on it, and I think that would make it extra special. I would not be able to add that little touch if I gave it to Jenny last week.

By the way, Mommy and baby are doing great. Myla was born at 5:14am at 7 pounds 10 ounces and 21 inches. She's a perfectly healthy, beautiful little girl!

I've got lots of sewing and seam-ripping and some square-trimming to do this weekend. I'm excited though, and ready to bring it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend!

It did it

2009-12-04T13:31:00.004-06:00

snow in Austin

I woke up thinking the weather channel had failed me, and that all I had today was really cold weather. Such weather had me wondering if it was worth getting all bundled up just to get lunch from the building next door. Well I am glad I did because on the way back I stepped outside to little flakes swirling around. They are hard to see in film, but maybe later this afternoon when it cools off some more I will be able to take some pictures. Love the freaky weather!

Thanksgiving in Stillwater

2009-12-03T21:13:00.003-06:00

I had such a great Thanksgiving break. I went up with Ryan to Stillwater, Oklahoma to spend the holiday with his family. The last time I had been up there was Christmas....three years ago! We stayed at his parents house. His dad has been super busy remodeling and fixing it up, and it looked really good. We left Austin Wednesday morning, didn't hit too much traffic (surprisingly) and got there in time for dinner that evening.

Thanksgiving day, I helped in the kitchen, making cheese balls (an appetizer with crackers), "Mimi's stuffing" (Ryan's great grandmother), biscuits, and all kinds of other dishes made by recipes passed down through their family. Tom said we can make a collection of these recipes for me to have, as well as some of Ryan's favorites growing up. Can't wait to get those. All we did on Thursday was eat, sleep, play games and visit with each other. All the Patman kids were at the house, which was great because since they are getting to be all spread out, I don't think that happens very often anymore. That evening, Ryan, Michael (his youngest brother), his mom and I played hearts. We went until almost four in the morning! Man, that was a vicious game....and I thought my family was competitive. Apparently the Patman motto is "second place is the first loser." yikes!
On Friday Ryan, Chris (younger brother) and I went target shooting. After getting all stocked up with ammo and clays at Walmart, we headed out to the Cimarron River to shoot. The river was pretty full, so we had to tote all our gear and tromp through the brush and overgrowth to make it to a spot where the banks provided a nice place to practice.

I love the lush countryside there in Oklahoma. It's getting towards winter there, so not all the fields were as green as this one, but there were plenty like this....intended and cared for by the farmers to turn their livestock loose. The whole time we were shooting the cows were mooing....I don't think they liked the sound too much.

The Cimarron River

You can see here that the water comes all the way up to the left side of the bank. We had to march farther up ahead where there was more space.

We are pretty much at the place where we shot clays for a bit.

We parked right by that bridge.

There were some fishermen hanging out by the bridge. They didn't stay much longer past firing our first rounds.

A better view of the bank

The ground was clay, and where it was dry, it was as solid as concrete. Where it was wet though, even slightly damp, it was super slippery. This became somewhat of a challenge if you were the person throwing the clays, as you did not want to slip and fall while you were chucking them over the river. Let me tell you, tossing clays is not as easy as you would think!

Ryan all set with his gear. Check out that beard. He is super proud of it. I am looking forward to the day it comes off (which will be after Christmas). He swears he needs his "winter coat" when he goes hunting this Christmas. Carrying a shotgun, while hunting in the snow, bagging a bird or two, with other hunting pals and your big ole beard....can't get more manly than that (I know that's what he's thinking).

Chris loading a clay in the thrower-thingie

We all took turns throwing clays for each other. Let me tell you, throwing clays is an art...especially with that launcher thing. First Chris threw for Ryan, then Ryan was going to throw them for Chris. I was photog/ observer so I was standing back and away from the danger. We learned (unfortunately the hard way) that the motion for throwing needs to be more like a reverse frisbee toss, where your wrist ends and snaps out and in front of you. Ryan, being a baseball player and pitcher, did not do this on the first attempt and snapped his on the follow-through, sending the clay in my direction. It was a definite surprise to see bright orange flying my way, but me and my chest of steel shattered it. It was more shocking than painful. After that, we switched to me throwing and while I didn't nail any of my companions, I had just as much trouble trying to launch them. I ended up throwing more like mini-frisbees and that worked ok, they just couldn't go as far. Later when Chris was back on throwing duty, he hit Ryan as well, so I guess he got him back for me. =)

Chris throwing clays

Ha. They were supposed to be going front and center but like I said before, were kind of all over the place. I guess that's good for practice though since you don't know where and in which direction the game is going to be coming!

Patman brothers

Despite unexpected incoming clays, the slippery ground, all the thorns ,stickers and fading light which resulted in bumps and scratches, we had a great time!

What I am praying for right now....

2009-12-02T10:01:00.003-06:00

Is for a snow day. It would be awesome if it actually snowed, but I need it to at least freeze. Because when it freezes, campus closes and I can spend the day at home next to a fire with my crazy cats who have not yet calmed down ever since I got back home from Thanksgiving in Oklahoma and work on some of the baby gifts I have planned while the Grinch or some other Christmas movie plays in the background. Doesn't that sound awesome? It looks like I might have a chance of this happening too.

Austin's end-of-the-week forecast

Keeping my fingers crossed on this one....

The Williams Five Want to Wish You a Very Merry Christmas!!

2009-11-22T11:35:00.002-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is too much fun. Go make your own!!

I love this lady

2009-11-20T17:11:00.004-06:00

October 30th marked my Aunt Kristin's birthday. She lives in New Mexico, but was able to fly out to California and spend time with the family. She's my dad's sister, and they had a gathering for her at my parent's house. Uncle Brian and some of the San Diego crew also came up to celebrate with them. I was bummed I couldn't be there myself, but I sent something in my stead.

Ta da.

Flapper hat made of organic bamboo silk in khaki and cream. Silk organza ribbon in chocolate. Big, flouncy flower in eggplant and cream mohair with a brown leather button.

I'm quite proud of this one. I had seen this hat pattern while searching around a LONG time ago and when I saw it I totally thought of Aunt K. Once I had the yarn for it, I crocheted it up in one sitting. Super easy! But then it looked very plain by itself and I knew styling it would be the most challenging part. I liked the idea of a ribbon since the originator tied a ribbon around hers, but it wasn't secured in any way. I thought sewing the ribbon on would be best, but then this also presented a challenge in that there would be no flexibility with the crochet cap. So, I just did little knots here and there, separated by about a half inch to keep the ribbon in place but not so tight. (I pinned it to the hat previously sizing it to my head since my head is on the larger side and I was worried about the ribbon making the hat too small). I should have taken a picture of the hat with just the ribbon because it looks nice without the flower as well.

The flower is a removable pin. So if she wants to attach it to a different hat or a purse she has the freedom to do so. I thought the purple, cream and brown went well together and made it all look more cohesive and finished.

(sorry for the awkward model and chopping off of the top of her head!) =P it's hard to take good pictures of oneself, while at work, without getting caught by anyone else.

Anyhoo, it looks much better on the person it was intended for:

photo courtesy of my sister, Ingrid, who snapped this just after Aunt K tried it on
as I'm talking to her on speaker phone

Happy Birthday Aunt K... I love you!

I've already got requests more requests for this hat. =) I'd say it was a hit.

Webber baby

2009-11-20T13:24:00.005-06:00

Finally, some pictures of the presents I was working on for Pete and Erinn's new bundle of joy, Nolan. Pete was an old lab mate of mine who graduated a year and a half ago and is now working in Houston.
First up, some onesies. I found some really cute iron-ons at Joann's. I am not sure how long they will stay intact since babies can be pretty messy and these will have to survive rigorous washing and drying. I think next time I will try something a la Lisa.

There were two more...one with a little tie (my favorite one) and another of a little boy with a baseball glove and ball. (Pete was captain of our softball team, and Nolan's name made me think of Nolan Ryan. Pete got this reference once they opened it.) But of course my battery in my camera had died and I had left my charger at school. I had to rush to take these pics and those of the burping cloths and blankets before it died. The Webber's have a puggle, Milo, and Erinn loved the blaming it on the dog onesie most.

Next up, burping cloths.

All out and open

These guys are easy, or at least they should be. I don't know if it was the type of cloths I got (Gerber) but the cloth itself was really thin, and since I had to re-size them to fit the strips of cloth I had cut, it got to be more challenging and time consuming. Lesson learned: don't follow the tutorial right off, measure the burping cloth to get the right dimensions of fabric to be cut. I used the tutorial over at A Chelsea Morning.

I liked her presentation too, so I mimicked it. I think it came out cute! I made 8 cloths for them.

Then come the receiving blankets. I just took a yard of soft flannel and sewed the folded edges to make a nice, finished, ridged, edge. Then crocheted a border around it. I did the first two bordered in white first. This was also time consuming. The yarn is thick and cottony, so there was a lot of friction in trying to crochet through and around the edge of fabric, and to keep the yarn from pulling too tightly causing the edge to fold. I ~~almost~~ had to force myself to finish them. Once I got to the the blue one, it was much easier. This yarn is an acrylic blend, and it slid right through. Plus I thought this made the prettiest blanket so it was my favorite to look at and work on. Ryan picked out the green, athletic print. He thought my fabric needed more of a "male touch". Pete also liked that one.

Just to get an idea of the full size, I pinned it up above. Sorry for the bad lighting. It was early morning before the drive to Houston and I was rushing. Anyhow, they really liked the gifts and Pete told me at the conference the next day that Nolan slept with the blue blanket that night.
Congrats on your new addition Pete and Erinn!!

The happy parents

Baby!

2009-11-03T13:24:00.005-06:00

Hello. Where have I been? I don't even know myself. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, and I am trying to get myself settled again.

I've finally gotten the pictures of the baby kitty I rescued one night in a parking lot, about a month ago now (sheesh!). He is so cute, friendly and is getting along well with the other two cats. I don't really know what I am going to do with him. Being the animal lover I am, I would love to keep him, but I don't think that is the most practical thing to do at this point. The boys are crazy, get into everything and manage to make a mess. Ramses and Baby (that's his name, at least for now) are the perfect buddies, and it will probably break Ramses' little heart if I took Baby away. Also since then, I have started putting Ramses outside during the day because it is just too much for me to have to deal with and clean up after three cats cooped up in an apartment all day. And since he is the biggest and most rambunctious, nature gets to deal with him. Whenever I bring Ramses in at night, Baby follows him around everywhere, crying and rubbing up against him and always purring. I don't think I could separate them.
I can't tell you the general havoc having 1 crazy, hyper kitten, 1 unusually large male who thinks he is still a kitten and has all-encompassing control over everything he can set his eyes on (Ramses), and 1 moody lady-kitty (Tesia) in my apartment has caused. Tesia, as it turns out, has a nervous condition, and when she gets stressed out she begins to scratch herself. She scratched the heck out of her poor neck, and when it started to heal and itch, she'd scratch even more. Quite a vicious cycle. Anyhow, it took me a while to figure out what was wrong with her. I knew it couldn't be fleas because she never goes outside. Also, no food allergies because she has been on this food for a while and has had no issues with it. Conclusion? I think the girl has abandonment issues (I rescued her from the shelter) and maybe having baby around was making her doubt her place in my life. He just stressed her out. Fix? "Spa treatment" which included lockdown in the bathroom with me spraying her and cleaning her wounds, 3x daily treatments with calamine lotion for the itch, and a pedi: clipping and filing down her claws. Finally, I tied a pretty little scarf around her neck. Since then, her neck is all healed, she has re-established her place as queen of my bed and is back to begging for scratches and kisses in the mornings. I'm glad to have my Tesie back. Now though, all the kitties get along pretty well together.

Baby conked out and tired

On another occasion he worked his way under this blanket

Ramses being a good big brother and giving Baby a cleaning

Aren't I a good kitty Mom?

Ramses being a bad kitty and chewing mom's earphones.

Baby learning from Ramses and getting into things

More curious cat behavior

The Reptile Show

2009-10-19T13:44:00.003-05:00

This weekend, a few of us went to the reptile show. It was Ryan, me, Chris and little Ryan (we have two Ryan's in our group now). Ryan was hoping that some good rainbow boa breeders would be there, and to his delight, there were!
Bryan Hummel, of Rainbowboas.com and Bob Clark both had booths. Rainbows aren't Bob's specialty, he focuses more on pythons, but Ryan bought two baby rainbows from him at the show last year. Bob was sold out, so we spent most of our time with BH.
He had a few on display that weren't for sale. I wouldn't sell these either! Of course I didn't have my camera because I wasn't planning on going on Saturday so I took these pics from his website.

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.

I don't know if he actually had this snake at the show, he had four on display, but he had a high red snake there. The colors are so phenomenal, I didn't think it was real at first. I love the red ones. Ryan doesn't have any reds yet, they are all orange hued.

Check out those eyes. Crazy. The orange on this one is insane.

So pretty. The crescents on the side I think are my favorite marking on these snakes. This ones are perfect.

It was a lot of fun. BH was very helpful too since he has been breeding these snakes since the mid-nineties. We must have talked with him for at least 45 minutes. He had some tips on what to look for in terms of markings and coloring, also on timing when it comes to actually breeding them. Ryan wants to try his hand with Johnny and June this year. She has been feeding really well, so she has bulked up and is ready for such an endeavor. I bet mom and any of the girls reading this have the million dollar question running through their head right now, " Did Ryan get another snake?"
Ready? Yes he did. He got one more male. He really doesn't need any more males, but that was all BH had left, plus this one he got really good looking and has a special genetic trait.
I'll explain....
So you've seen in the above pictures that the color can vary alot. There are the oranges, reds, browns, and I have seen pictures of some that look mauvey. But there is a recessive gene that causes hypomelanism - basically black pigments are reduced. It's kind of like albinoism (is that a word? spell check is not catching it, so I'll assume so), just not complete absence of these pigments. See the following pics of BH's snakes for example:

hypos on the right

hypo yearling. He is pretty red. The hypo he had at the show was more apricot colored like the ones above. But see how his lines are not as pronounced? The black dots get lighter moving towards the belly... BH called this "blushing"

Anyways, Ryan did not get an actual hypo, they are too pricey for him right now (female babies are $2200), but his male is 100% heterozygous for this trait. This means that if he were to breed this male with another female that is heterzygous (still to be aquired) then statistically, half of the clutch/ litter should be hypomelanistic - which he can keep the best for his own stock and then sell the rest for a huge amount of money. There are many other breeding scenarios requiring a good knowledge of genetics, and it makes me wish I had paid more attention in my undergrad class, but it's pretty fascinating! Either way, Ryan and I both think that even though he needs more females for a breeding collection (right now for the rainbows he is 3.2 : male.female), this male is a great addition to his group.
He recently named the babies he aquired from Bob last year, the boy Jem and the girl Scout, after characters in his favorite book: To Kill A Mockingbird. But I think he is contemplating selling Scout. She hasn't colored up very well (their color increases over time with each shed) and she is still pretty brown. In addition, her crescent markings aren't very nice. She is pretty tame though so she'll make a great pet snake. We thought Jem was coloring nicely until we put him next to the newby. Wow. The new snake whoops him. I didn't have my camera to demonstrate, but I will take pics soon. Jem however has very nice crescents, so I think Ryan is leaning towards keeping him. And boy is that one mean. I've been bitten three times by him (on separate occasions) and Ryan as well. When we took him out to look at the babies together he was not having it, he went strike crazy and got Ryan. He wasn't like that before, it must be some sort of phase.
BH is based in San Antonio, so he told Ryan that he could come down when his next litters are born in the summer and take his pick of a few females. He can't wait for that! It will be pretty cool too if he will let us see his setup...another educational experience.
For right now, he needs to figure out his caging setup. I think he wants to build some racks with his dad at Thanksgiving. Then he will be ready to get a couple more babies in the summer. He also needs to practice just getting them to breed, which Johnny and June are perfect for. And while they aren't outrageously colored, they are still good looking snakes. Their previous owner had no trouble selling their babies when he bred them.
It will take a while to get snakes the quality BH has, he'll just have to take his time. I know he'll have a blast every step of the way. I already am!

Earth

2009-10-03T10:43:00.004-05:00

Last night I watched the movie "Earth" by Disneynature. WOW. This movie was so good. I recommend it. Go get it and watch it this weekend. The filmography is amazing. And with all Disney movies (or at least in my opinion) so is the music. James Earl Jones narrates the movie, such a classic voice. I cannot picture anyone better doing it.
You just have to wonder as you're watching this, how they are getting some of the shots they do, because it is absolutely breathtaking. There are some sad parts (I cried) but there are also some funny ones. It's all the circle of life. It's beautiful, it's real, and it's captivating. . . which I'm sure is the whole point of creation. God is awesome. His creativity is mind-blowing.

They follow some humpback whales

Life in Africa and a family of elephants. These monkeys were funny to watch.

And the polar bears. Uh-oh, I'm getting misty-eyed again.
Such beautiful creatures.

After seeing this movie, I really want to be a better citizen and steward of this planet. I think it will touch you the same way too.

Earth Day 2010, they are coming out with their newest nature film...Oceans. It looks AWESOME.

Way Late

2009-10-01T21:13:00.007-05:00

I haven't uploaded pictures since my birthday, so I wanted to show off my pretty birthday dinner. My mom loves sushi, so when she sees this, hopefully she'll have even more incentive to come to Austin to see me. Then we can get sushi together! She can also see my not-so-new-anymore apt, meet Ramses and see Ryan's snakes. Since I usually go home, she has not seen these new additions to my life.
Anyhow, back to the yummies. Perhaps this is a mistake posting this RIGHT NOW, because I just got out of teaching class (6-9 pm-er...grrr) and I while I just snacked on a zebra cookie, I am starving because I haven't had anything to eat since lunch.
Ok...on to my birthday dinner. It's a lot. But we knew we were having sushi, which is always a special treat for us, so we made sure we had lots of room! We went to Musashino here in Austin.

South Sider - Habanero caviar, mint lead, avocado and red sweet radish, wrapped in rice paper, drizzled with sweet and hot chile oil. Your choice of unagi or yellowtail. We had yellowtail. This is one of my favorite rolls.

Trying to be discreet here so no flash....you can see how dark it is inside. It lends to a very private atmosphere.

Another view, with the flash. Their presentation is always very nice, and those jalapenos are a must!

Ozzy II (far side) - Unagi, yellowtail, and avocado with sesame seeds and smelt caviar on the outside. Rainbow Roll - California roll with tuna, fresh salmon, shrimp, avocado, and white fish on the outside

Ryan's favorite - Salmon skin roll. Crunchy toasted salmon skin, cucumber, and scallion with dried bonito flakes on the outside.

Side view. It's got a great smoky flavor.

Rock and Roll - Jumbo shrimp tempura, smelt caviar, avocado, radish sprouts, and sweet sauce

Next up...sashimi.

Unagi (fresh-water eel) - nearest
Nama sake (salmon) - far

Saba (mackeral) with ginger - Dad, I bet you'd like this!

Finally....

Mango sorbet - so refreshing. I love mango.

Hmmmm....looking back now, I'm kind of embarrassed that we ate all of that. I was so stuffed, and wishing for an elastic waistband when we were all done. But afterall it WAS my birthday, you only have one a year, and it was sooooo good.

The Way to a Man's Heart....

2009-09-29T17:53:00.005-05:00

Is through his stomach. Right? I have been told this many times. I know I've secured my place in Ryan's heart but I figured baking some cookies for him couldn't hurt. He loves white chocolate and macadamia nuts, and since they are exotic and decadent compared to the classic chocolate chip cookie, I thought I would head in that direction. However, white chocolate is not my favorite, so I made a compromise. Queue Zebra Macadamia Nut Cookies.

These bad boys turned out pretty freakin' good. I like 'em and he loves 'em. Win-Win. I have plenty to keep him satisfied and for lunches this week.

Want to make them for yourself? Go for it....I highly suggest it!

Zebra Macadamia Nut Cookies
What you need:

1 c. (2 Sticks) butter, softened

1 c. sugar

¼ c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 ½ c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. white chocolate chips

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

1.5 c. chopped macadamia nuts

What to do:

Heat oven to 375.
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs one at a time; beat well.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour and baking soda; gradually add to cream mixture, until well mixed.
Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until just "golden kissed".
Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

ENJOY!!

I'm excited

2009-09-22T13:54:00.004-05:00

I'm feeling pretty good right now.
I got my ticket taken care of today. There was a little drama about that yesterday, since they would not accept my proof of insurance. I was freaking out because then my fine would have been just short of 500 bones. Seriously? But, I was able to get it fixed and taken care of today. So I only had to pay $130 for the "filing fee" and I get to take a defensive driving course. I am so glad that I went early rather than waiting until my court date, otherwise I would have been REALLY angry. Glad that's off my back.
Even better though, I found out my uncle is going to have a baby girl. Awwww! I just called him and he was telling me about the ultrasound and how he could see her perfect little hands and feet. When the nurse was pushing against Kelly's belly with the probe, the baby pushed back with her hand and they got a perfect picture of her hand. When she pushed harder, the baby tried to push back with both hands. He said that she also also going to have big lips, typical for our family =). She sounds like a doll already. And he just kept going on and on about it, it's so sweet. I am SO EXCITED for him!
I am going to make some crib/ baby quilts. One will be for Oom Tiki and Kelly's baby, the other for Ryan's sister, Jenny's baby Myla. I just ordered the prints from SewMamaSew.
Myla's will be pink and soft blue. Jenny wants the baby's room to be how hers was as a little girl, and those were the colors.
For Oom Tiki's and Kelly's baby: pink, yellow and lavender.
A couple examples of the prints:

Van Delden and Myla quilts

Van Delden and Myla quilts

Van Delden and Myla quilts

Van Delden quilt

van Delden quilt

Myla's quilt

Myla's quilt

These are just some of the prints. Each quilt will have ten different prints and some solids as well. I will be using Alicia Paulson's Ollalieberry Ice Cream quilt pattern for these.

You're probably saying: "But wait, aren't you getting ahead of yourself? Don't you have other baby presents to finish and Alyssa's duvet cover still to start?" Yes, you are right. I am just about done with the baby receiving blankets. I still have to crochet one edge around the last blanket, and those will finally be done. I just haven't had a lot of free time, and I ran into some difficulty once I started, so I kind of dreaded making them. But these are special presents, and I don't want to make them with this dark cloud over my head, so I have been waiting for a change in attitude. As a result...I have been and am procrastinating. For the first two blankets I used a cotton yarn, so it had a lot of friction (since you have to push the yarn through the flannel) and crocheting the border ended up taking a lot of time and was a bit frustrating. This last one has gone much better since the yarn is more slippery and it is easier to pull through the fabric. I think another thing helping me is the print is my favorite of the three, I think it's going to make the prettiest blankie, so I like working with it. The flannel is also super soft. Ramses could verify this for you since he is constantly trying to lay on it while I am working. I still have the rest of the burping cloths to do, I have about 5 more of those to make. I'm crossing my fingers that once I start those, I'll get on a roll and finish them all at once (I've run into difficulty with those too, grrrr). I promise I won't start anything new until I get those done and sent out to the Webber's.
I also have another secret project that I am anxious to start once the Webber baby gift is finished. Can't wait to start it!

Rain

2009-09-12T15:36:00.007-05:00

It's raining here. Still. I don't think it has stopped raining for the last 6 hours. We've been gloomy, grey and wet since Tuesday. We really, really, really need this rain though. It's good that it's the slow, constant rain rather than the torrential storms that pour and run.

It's in the low seventies too, so I'm like, cold. Sad, I know. I don't handle large weather deviations very well. I want to go home and make a fire, kinda like this:

Tesia says, "aaahhhhh, this is nice."

Now that looks perfect. I wanna be sprawled out like her too. This is what I am going to do: go home, cozy up under a blanket with something hot to drink, put on a movie and crochet with my kitties hanging out around me - crying, begging for and getting attention. I mean, with these faces, how can you resist?

Mom, please stop taking pictures of me

Fine, I'll model if I must

I look good, don't I?

I'm the cutest kitty, ever.

Ramses likes to watch things from above.
I love how he is always hanging his legs off of things

sitting, waiting, wishing
(for me to stop flashing bright lights in his face and get him some more food)

on the move

We don't get this weather very often, especially in September. Got to make the most of it while I can! I really, seriously need to finish those baby gifts this weekend. Since I won't be tempted by laying out by the pool (which I didn't get to do much of this summer and now I try on weekends to squeeze it in), I think I might be able to do it. I hope so. . . I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm looking forward to my weekend indoors.

Twenty Six

2009-09-10T10:50:00.004-05:00

I'm staring it in the face today. And this is what it looks like.

I'm leaving work a little early today to get a facial at the spa. Then Ryan is taking me out to dinner, probably to our favorite sushi place. I've told him not to make a big deal out of today and not to get me anything. He needs to save his money for something else!

Summer

2009-09-09T16:00:00.004-05:00

Sigh - Ah Summer, you are finally leaving us. I can feel the coming of Fall in the early grey light of the morning and the initial feeling of a little "crispness" in the air. I really felt it yesterday morning. And this morning it was raining. But that's ok because we really need the rain, and I was finally able to get a hot tea latte without feeling silly about drinking a hot drink in hot weather. (After four years of waiting, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just opened up here in Austin and I LOVE their tea lattes.) Even though the clouds have since broken up and the sun is shining, that element of blazing Texas heat is severely lacking compared to recent weeks. I guess it's a welcome change.

But a part of me is still kind of sad. Summer is my favorite season. Summertime nostalgia: lots of beach trips, camping trips at Jalama, swimming at Tante San's house, mom taking all us kids to Toys 'R Us on the really hot days since we had no AC, playing at the Pacheco's house which consisted ofeating their Otter pops, catching the chickens, Nintendo and endless games of hide & seek. More camping trips at Rock Creek, Convict Lake and June Lake, no school, playing school (we were funny kids), trips to the park, running around bare foot, getting to watch all of the afternoon cartoons, bike rides around the neighborhood, horseback riding, exploring in the orange groves with subsequent orange fights, catching lizards, building forts, etc.

Instant flashback:

swimming lessons with: Adam and Kaci Pacheco (old neighbors), me, Willem (cousin) and my brother, Ben.

The good old days of being a kid.

And.... it's this lady's birthday today. She's so awesome and I love her tons!

Happy Birthday Tante San!!!

Labor Day Cookout

2009-09-08T10:33:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we decided (we being me and the other American students in my research group) that we wanted to enjoy the last real day of summer. So, we only worked half a day and then everyone headed over to my apartment complex to grill out by the pool. We also had the new first year students come out. . . it's important to do fun stuff with them outside the lab! We had a good turnout with me, Ryan, Ryan M.(a first year from Berkeley), Chris, Jason, Emma (first year from Boise), Alex (exchange student from Bristol), Evie (another grad student from the Bielawski group) and her boyfriend Kyle, Rachel (inorganic grad student and my life saver - but that's a long story) and her boyfriend Steve. It was a good crowd!

Everyone chipped in and brought goodies. [My] Ryan cooked up some of his famous burgers and I got some wings ready to grill too. I seasoned them Jamaican Jerk style and they were so delicious! I am definitely keeping this recipe.

yummy!

It's just a recipe I found online, and of course you can use this marinade for any cut of chicken. I find that wings are the easiest to grill though, and they are the perfect BBQ finger food.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Mix in a large bowl:
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground sage
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
big pinch of salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Whisk in the following:
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice
juice of two limes

Add the following to the marinade:
2 serano peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup chopped white onion
3 green onions finely chopped

Add the chicken (3 lbs or so)
Stir to coat the chicken
cover in saran wrap and keep in the fridge for at least an hour.

I let mine marinade for almost three hours and it was perfect! Grill 'em over hot coals until they are cooked through. Enjoy!

We finished off our meal with some yummy brownies and a game of apples to apples. so much fun!!

I'm seeing green, and I like it

2009-09-01T19:22:00.005-05:00

No, I didn't win some huge sum of money, or stumble upon a lucrative business adventure ( I wish) but I mean green in the environmental conservation/ reducing carbon footprint sort of way. I was at the store this weekend and seeing what was in people's carts made me smile.

reusable bags with goodies**

Almost everyone I saw had these reusable bags! I know, they aren't the cutest thing, I plan on making myself some stylish ones at some point, but they get the job done for now. I like how sturdy these things are, I don't have to worry about the plastic bags ripping - as they frequently do. And they're big, so you can fit a lot of stuff in 'em, and this means I can make it into my apartment from the car in one trip. Which I will soon appreciate even more since I will no longer have my wheels, and will have to make these trips to the store on my bike or the bus.

What made me even happier was seeing what people were putting IN their carts. Maybe it's because Austin is a hip, healthy town. Or maybe the day I went to the store was the day that all healthy people also do their shopping. Nonetheless, I was pleased to see that there was lots of produce, organic and natural goods. There really wasn't a whole lot of the pre-packaged stuff. Which I find amazing!

And doesn't what we spend our money on at the grocery store send a message to the food companies about the types of things we want to put in our bodies and how we value our health? Absolutely it does! It's like each item is a tic- or vote -about what you are willing to spend your money on, and how important food production, agriculture and the effect of this industry on the environment is to you. Don't you think?

So I had a proud moment this weekend. I was glad that the people of Austin, myself included, are willing to pay an extra buck for the "real stuff". I'm still kinda smiling about it.

**Since they are re-usable, and things like meat, unwashed produce, etc are put in there, and they're kept in the car (where it's warm) so that they are ready anytime you hit the store. . . bacteria can build up. if you do use these bags, give 'em a wash every once in a while to be on the safe side =) **

In the Kitchen

2009-08-12T18:30:00.008-05:00

I did a little baking this past week. The weekend was great. . . it was so awesome to see Ryan's family and spend some time with them. I can't believe how easily it flies by.
We did pretty much as I predicted. Us girls went to the spa on Saturday morning while the guys watched baseball at the hotel. Mrs. Patman and I got facials while Jenny got the massage. wow. I know I was smitten with facials when I first got one a while ago. I keep asking myself why I don't get them more often. . . especially when I had a gift card for them. Anyhow, I treated the girls since I had the gift card, and they both loved it. Then we went down to campus to sight-see and show them the lab, sno-cones were next (they agreed that Sno-Beach was the best they ever had - I'm tellin' ya, it's good!!), they ALL held Ryan's snakes. Even Tom, his dad. I was shocked. Now, he was a little tense and looked like he would be ready to break Apollo's neck if he even thought about making a wrong move, but he did hold him around his shoulders. I was impressed. Then, off to Rudy's for lunch and games at my apartment until late that night. They all loved Ramses, especially Ryan's little brother, Michael who got to come down.
Well, back to the topic. I baked a cherry clafouti for our game-time. I saw Alicia's over at Posie Gets Cozy and it just looked delish and wanted to try it. When cherries went down to $2.77/lb versus the normal Texas $6+/lb I knew I had to try it. It was pretty good! The cherries were yummy. It wasn't as creamy as I was expecting, more stiff like a bread pudding so maybe I have to practice more. Reviews from my testers:

Ryan - "it's good."
Me - "So if I made it again, you would eat it?"
Ryan - "eh."
Me - "oh, so you don't like it then."
Ryan - "well I like it. It's tastes good, especially the cherries. It's just the texture."
Me - "hmmmm, ok I guess that helps."

Jenny - "I like it!!!"

Michael - "I'd have more."
Me - "yay!"
Michael - "but it would be even better if it could be sweeter."

His parents didn't have any since they were still full from lunch.

My clafouti pre-bake
(no, I didn't get an after picture since I made this at like 1am the night before, and we were in the middle of playing games when I took it out to eat.)

So, there you have it. I served it with creme fraiche, and forgot to dust with powdered sugar. doh!! I am not sure how I forgot that. So, it was a little on the sour side, - if sour is the right way to describe it. The recipe does call for some sugar, and there is a hint of lemon from lemon zest...But it IS a custard and they still liked it overall. Since then, I have had it with the sugar and the taste is right on. Just need to work on the texture.

I also made the chocolate chip banana bread. I LOVE the banana chocolate chip coffee cake from Starbuck's that they usually sell in the summers. I don't know if it's gone on sale this summer, I don't go all that often. But when I saw Coco's recipe for coconut banana bread over at Roost, I thought I would try it but switch it up a bit. I used her recipe but added 2c. chocolate chips instead of coconut. yummers!

monster naner bread

It's a monster loaf because it got broken up when I tried to take it out of the pan. I thought I greased it well enough. Maybe too much? Or it was still too warm? No matter, it's sooo good. Since I only had wheat AP flour, it's all wheaty and thick. kinda like a bran muffin. It's making a great afternoon snack this week, and I'd like to think with all that fiber that its much healthier than the Starbucks version.

In the jar is Missy Piggy. She is three days old today! She's my sourdough starter that I look forward to making many loaves of bread, english muffins and other goodies with!!

Oh, so we are into 53 days of over 100 degree heat this summer. Though today and Sunday we managed to get thunderstorms in the evening and a (little) bit of rain. Here is the result of Sunday's storm...

What's that? A RAMSES cat under the couch and Tesia NOT HIDING? What the....
This is so backwards since she is my 'fraidy cat. The thunder was really loud. I mean, REALLY loud. It sounded like the whole sky is ripping open, like the monstrous cables holding it up are snapping and it's going to come crashing down on top of you. This sent him running for cover for a good hour, even after the storm ended. She and I tried coaxing him out, and I got him far enough to take this picture before he hid for a little longer.

aaahhhhh....

2009-08-07T10:25:00.005-05:00

This weekend Ryan's parents and baby sister are coming down to visit him. His youngest brother, Michael, might be able to make it too if he can finish his moving-away-to-college-packing in time. I made appointments for us girls at the spa. I still have some of that gift card from Ryan (not that I haven't been using it, but they changed their card reading system so my old card was then "void". When they asked me how much it had been for I told them the "queen for a day" package, and they pretty much gave me a whole brand new card for that amount. SWEET!) So, I got two appointments for a facial, and one 0.5hr massage. Ryan suggested us girls do something like that together, since his mom and sister don't get to do stuff like that often. Plus we can have some girl bonding time. I'll let them choose which treatment they want and I'll take what's left. I know both are amazing!

so relaxing...

It's the first time his parents have come down, and I am excited to see them. I haven't seen them since I first met them over 2 years ago! I am sure we will just hang out (it's still pretty warm), have a game night, go see a movie at the Alamo and enjoy each other's company. Ryan's set on showing them his snakes and making his dad hold one. We'll see how that works out!

Since they leave on Sunday morning, I'll have time for other things I want to do like:

Get a sourdough starter started. I have a name already: Miss Piggy.
Bake some chocolate chip naner(banana) bread. mmmm, bread.
Finish up the Webber's baby gift. Little Nolan is 3 days overdue now! I'll post once I get 'er done
Thorough house cleaning and purge. I'd like to make my crafting/sewing space more organized
Maybe a trip to Joann's and Hobby Lobby for some more fabric. I can't wait to start another sewing project! It's a bit much for right now, and I really need to start Alyssa's gift, but I would really really love to make myself a quilt a la Alicia Paulson's Ollalieberry Ice Cream Quilt. I keep finding myself going over to her blog and looking at the pictures., so I got the pattern yesterday. I am absolutely in love with this quilt...it's so warm, inviting and homey. Maybe I could do a pink one someday if I ever have a little girl, but I think it would be wise for me to do a different color scheme for my (later our) bed if I want it get much use. I'm thinking a cool blue, white and grey.
Go for a run
Let's throw at least one Bliss Blanket square on this list too

Ok, that's a lot. I'll see what I can do. What are your plans for the weekend? Happy Friday everyone!!!

Snip and Press

2009-07-28T18:02:00.005-05:00

That's how I spent all of Sunday afternoon, evening and night once I got home from the Wildflower Center. I am making a gift for my cousin Aaron and his fiance, Carmelita. They are getting married this weekend!! Now that the busy-time consuming part is done (see title) I hope the rest will go smoothly. A sneak peek:

The fifteen prints

It took quite a while to get all of my squares cut and neatly pressed. I used my rotary cutter, which was really nice and quick for cutting. . . once I was ready to cut. When I got my machine and supplies last year, I got the small (18" x 12") cutting mat. I'm not really sure what I was thinking besides trying to go easy on the pocketbook, but this made cutting yards of fabric slow and awkward. I actually got up, and left to Joann's to get the big one. Sigh- MUCH BETTER. I was starting to go crazy and get a charlie horse in my back. These were just easy squares, I cannot imagine more intricate designs. This may change with more sewing, but I've found that I love ironing. I have this lavender linen water that I use, so that fabric ends up smelling good, and the squares look so nice and crisp. It just feels so domestic.

a pinwheel of half of my squares

We'll see how this turns out! You can probably get an idea of what I am up to, but I don't think they have to time to be checking out my blog right now. I know family has started arriving in Portland since earlier this week, and I get to leave on Thursday morning(yay!). Anyhow, I stayed up late last night and almost finished assembling the rows. Hopefully tonight I can finish that off and start to make my "sandwhich". I really hope I am not underestimating how much time it will take me to finish this, because I really want to take it out there with me! Tomorrow is a full day too with work and various appointments, and I still need to pack so tonight really counts. I am so glad to be using my machine again. I've missed her.

Out in the sun

2009-07-28T12:43:00.018-05:00

On Sunday afternoon, Ryan and I went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. They were having a special event in honor of an anniversary: LBJ presented his wife with 50 pens that he used to sign the (50) environmental bills she had pushed for enactment. She was a busy little lady! The center was having a free admission day, so we went to check it out.

My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth. - Lady Bird Johnson

This was a hanging quote in the arches near the entrance. There were others too, but I liked this one the best. I think I would have gotten along very well with the former First Lady. She is the reason people get to enjoy those pretty bluebonnets and other wildflowers along the Texas (and national) highways.... her Highway Beautification Act. I don't think I am the only one who would rather see pretty trees and wildflowers rather than billboards and junkyards when I'm taking a long trip. She was also behind the anti-littering laws, preservation of historical landmarks and much more. I am thankful for all of her hard work in preserving the environment and the beautiful sights and places in our country for me and future generations to enjoy.

All of the plants in the LBJWFC are native to Texas, and boy was I surprised. Even through our unbearably hot and dry summer thus far, it was incredibly. . . green.

courtyard with a shady grape covered walkway.
The shade was a wonderful place to take a break from the sun.

so nice and shady! I loved how rustic everything looked...
with the wood beams like tree trunks

A little spring bubbling along...

leading to this little pond with water cress and those pretty green stalk/reeds It's not bamboo, maybe a sub-species? It's really pretty and such a vibrant green.

It was so interesting to see this water just coming out of the ground, then disappear underground again, with moist patches of dirt here and there. Like a dry creek bed, but not completely dry. huh.

They also feature art and gifts donated to the center.

Biggest origami birds I have ever seen. They went up to my hip!

wire-cage birds

I think they were herons since the little stream runs along behind them. They were sitting at the edge of this large area that was teaming with butterflies. There were these huge chartreuse ones that I wanted to get pictures of, but they were too quick and elusive. . . they never landed anywhere!

scorpion lawn-art anyone?

I bet we all know who loved this. . . yes, Ryan. Other things we loved. . .

two different shrubs with red flowers

Ryan really liked these. When he was little and used to garden with his mom, she let him have his own section of the garden which he made a "fire-garden". Only red and orange flowers allowed. He is so cute, I can just imagine this blond-haired, rambunctious little boy running around planting his garden. He wants to have another fire-garden one day, and he thought these a definite addition. He'd have this too *** So I had my story wrong, she never let him have a fire garden. It was something he always begged her for. awwwww. ***

What is a fire-garden without firecrackerbush?
Do those flowers not look just like fireworks?

He also liked this big spiky-looking plant, and said something about a reptile habitat
(I obviously didn't pay much attention to that last part!!)

Ever wondered what a crab-apple looked like?

They are so small! Like diameter about the size of a fifty-cent piece. I just saw these and smiled, thinking about our old horses Dandy and Duffy. I loved feeding them tart little apples and watching their lips curl. But they loved it and always wanted more! I miss those guys.

sand-oats. I just wanted to take a stalk put it in my mouth (you know, like the cartoons)

There were all kinds of grains. We had stopped inside the cafe to get a drink and saw a bouquet of flowers with these incorporated. I loved the country charm!

Purple cone flower - a.k.a. Echinacea

Ok, this was the last type of tree I expected to see in the middle of Texas in the summer. Doesn't this belong in the mountains or something? The branches look so soft, and I think the pattern on the fruit is pretty cool.

Bald cypress

closeup

I love butterflies.

I am pretty sure this is a monarch. It paused long enough for a pic.

And then it floated off to some pretty flowers out in the sun and did some posing.
I am pretty sure it was showing off.

amazing

Since we're talking about butterflies.

A swallowtail on the way out to the car

prickly pears

Oh man, seeing these took me back to eighth grade. Our history class went on this field trip to Catalina, and we were supposed to be re-living what it was like in California during the Civil War. We "sailed" over on an old boat (of course it had a motor) but we learned how to rig the sails, tie knots, answered to a first-mate, etc. Once we made it over to the island, we had to set up camp, some classmates had to dig a latrine, others (which I was fortunately a part of) had to make this huge pot of stew and we had to peel a hundred or so carrots and potatoes. We also kept watch during shifts on the beach at night (to lookout for pirates, and invading soldiers) and went on walks to find fresh water, identifying safe foods to eat, etc. Enter prickly pears. On said walks, our first captain (the guide) pointed out some prickly pears and went on and on about how good they were. So Lindsay Topp and I decided to pick one to check it out. Ummm, mistake. These have cactus barbs on them too! Except they are like micro-tiny. Of course, tweezers were not part of known technology back then, so we got to enjoy the rest of the trip with prickly pear barbs in our hands and fingers. Anyhow, looking back, it's pretty funny and I totally thought of that field trip when I saw them.

There are all kinds of legumous - not sure if that is a real word - plants and trees here. Suprisingly, some of them are very pleasantly fragrant. I don't know . . . to me, legumes = beans and beans = fragrant (but not pretty fragrant). On campus this spring, there is this one tree near the building that has bright yellow flowers and it smells WONDERFUL. Ryan and I have been trying to find out what it is..... ta da!

Retama - another legume
It is such a pretty tree, with dainty willowy greens and those heavenly flowers.

Sensitive briar

I really like this ground cover. So lush and rich! And this one was just cute and reminded me of a fairy tale.

Silver pony-foot

lone oak

If it wasn't the middle of summer and 105 degrees out, I am sure we would have gone exploring on the trails and in the fields (rattlesnakes - ahh!). Though I know snakes wouldn't have stopped Ryan, it really was unbelievably hot and we were foolishly unprepared (no hats or sunscreen, flip-flops, etc.) We both thought this oak looked so stoic and regal. It's huge, it was probably about 1000 feet away.

deep pool

This pool was donated by Shell Oil and is at the entrance of the center. Ryan kept saying how he was glad he did not have $200 on him, because he would gladly pay that to get to take a dip in it. A $200 dip? crazy. But that's how hot it was.

As we were leaving, there is a big fountain/ pond directly across from the archway holding the quotes. We had paused at it to look at the turtles and saw the hugest dragonflies I had ever seen. Like, as big as my hand at least! Of course they were too fast to take pictures of ,and the big ones didn't land much. But we also saw a snake by the pond too! We almost missed him, but I saw him sneaking down over some rocks to go swimming in the water. It looked a lot like Ryan's own Mister Slithers.

We had so much fun there, and I would go again in a heartbeat. I totally wouldn't hesitate to pay the admission fee ($7), it's so worth it. Plus there are all the trails that we didn't get to go see. I can't wait to go during the spring, when just about everything should be blooming!

I learned a some things too:
Water conservation. They had all these rooves and structures rigged up to collect rainwater runoff in silos, and later use this water for the plants. So smart! Obviously not applicable now in my apt. but maybe someday.
Future gardening. Wherever we move, I am going to take inspiration for gardening from that city's botanical gardens. I had no idea Texas had so many beautiful native plants, and since they are native, they should have no trouble growing!
It's always so wonderful to spend time outdoors. I love getting to see all the little treasures and creations out there. . . just waiting to be enjoyed by us. Seeing some things. . . you just have to wonder at God's humor, and how much fun He must have had during Creation. You can't beat that imagination.

On the way home, we stopped and got sno-cones.

I don't really remember having these much growing up. Ryan and his family went all the time when he was a kid. Maybe it's a Midwest thing. I don't really know how I have not had one before this summer either. There is this great stand near campus and they have more downtown, but they make the best sno-cones in Austin. How can you mess up a sno-cone? Trust me, you can. But these guys at Sno-Beach got it right. And it shows, when the whole parking lot is packed with cars and there is a line with 20 people waiting in the sun to get one. No joke. I got cherry and root beer with cream. It's like a cherry root-beer (Ryan's dad's favorite) but part 50-50 bar and part root beer float. It's good. Ryan got Silver Fox with cream (his mom's favorite). What's Silver Fox? I don't know. If you had to imagine what a cloud tastes like, that's it. really light. with a hint of vanilla. They have about a hundred flavors, but one of them is Tiger Blood, which I have not braved to try. Ryan used to get it as a little boy (of course). I just enjoy getting these glimpes into his childhood, whether its through a sno-cone or little-red flowers. He's amazing.

Well, I had a fun weekend. How about you?

I'm free!!!

2009-07-21T12:52:00.006-05:00

I am officially back at my place and it feels so good! Their house is all clean, smells like lavender goodness, and I got a little something together to welcome them home:

welcome home!

yummies

I just bought some flowers from the market, put them in a cute pitcher vase that had been sitting out, got a little card and made some chocolate chip coconut oatmeal cookies. These are so yummy! They aren't too sugary, so they are perfect when you're craving something sweet and don't want something over-the-top. Plus I love the hint of coconut in them!

Chocolate chip coconut oatmeal cookies

I've made these for the lab, bbq's and just because. . . I always get compliments on them. Even Ryan, who is not a huge fan of coconut, has no trouble eating several in a sitting.

How to make your own...
What you'll need

1 c. butter
1 c. light brown sugar (packed)
0.5 c. white sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
1.25 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp salt
3.25 c. quick cooking oats (I use Quaker in the big cardboard carton)
1 c. chopped walnuts
1.5 c. shredded coconut (I use Baker's brand)
1 c. Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips

*note* I adapted this from a regular oatmeal cookie recipe, which originally called for 2 tsp vanilla. I love vanilla so I always multiply what recipes call for by 1.5.

What to do

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt, then add this to the creamy mixture in portions until it is just blended. Next add in order, the oats, walnuts, coconut and finally the chocolate chips.
3. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes, or until "just kissed" golden brown. Cool on the baking sheet for several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. yields about 2.5 dozen depending on the size.
4. ENJOY!! Easy squeezy, right?

(For more "bally" looking cookies like mine, chill the dough for an hour or so prior to baking. The dough also stores well in the freezer- about 2 weeks- so you can bake what you want and save the rest for later.)

Of course these cookies taste great without the coconut, or the nuts. . . I've made both. It's a versatile recipe where you can add or remove whatever you want. Sometime I am going to try it with pecans instead of walnuts, and perhaps some dried cranberries. Hope you like 'em!

The Weekend

2009-07-20T16:06:00.005-05:00

Friday night Ryan and I used his birthday concert tickets as we saw Billy Talent, Rancid and headliner Rise Against at Stubb's. Wow. quite an experience, let me tell ya.

I didn't really know what to expect. I had heard of Rancid before, and knew like, one of their songs. I have the latest Rise Against album so I knew at least a good number of their songs, and didn't even know about Billy Talent until I got to the show.

First of all, it was hot. Not just hot, it was I-am-so-clammy-it-feels-like-I-am-being-smothered-and-melting kind of hot. Stubb's is an open venue, and it is first-come first-serve when it comes to where you are in respects to the stage, so we got there about 45 minutes before the doors opened at 7 to make sure we had a good spot. We had to stand in line in the full blazing heat of the sun. Good thing we thought in advance to pick up some cold drinks to have with us while in line. I think I would have died otherwise. Once we got inside though, it was much better. We found a really nice spot about 30 feet from the stage that was situated between an outdoor staircase (to the right/front of us) and a big oak tree behind us. We had about 4 feet of space to claim as our own, with two of the ends being blocked off by inanimate objects (This is nice because the crowd tends to "push" forward once the show starts). This spot was worth the wait. The only bad thing was that because the tree and stairs prevented it from getting too crowded, people started to use it as a pathway to get to the bar. What was worse was the pushy, sweaty guys going back and forth ten or so times trying to make their way to the mosh pit. Yes, a MOSH PIT. My first one ever. I had never seen anything like it! As soon as the music started playing, this huge circle directly in front of the stage just turned into a bunch of guys running around, shoving each other, and probably hitting each other too. You just saw a huge cloud of dust from all their activity, and it just looked like a brawl. There were a few occasions where security had to escort bloodied up people from the pit. There was crowd surfing too. It was a sight to see. Another thing was I would move out of the way to make room for people to pass through and they would just stop and take my place, at which point Ryan would tap on their shoulder, give 'em a look and tell them to move on. Anyhow, Ryan figured out that if I stood close to the staircase, he could stand close enough to me to make the aisleway that people could use, thus preventing me from getting pushed and touched by them. This also provided him with the opportunity to "bump" the really annoying, pushy ones up against the tree (which he took advantage of when need be). We positioned ourselves as such towards the end of Rancid's set, and were able to fully enjoy Rise Against (who we really came to see).

Overall, it was a very interesting show. When you have bands that look like:

Billy Talent

Rise Against

You can probably imagine the crowd demographic. I'd say the craziest time was when Rancid came out. We both liked Billy Talent, and of course Rise Against. Rancid's music just wasn't my taste.

I had fun, despite the aforementioned factors and that 1) I forgot my camera at Mike's house (I'm driving myself crazy) hence the web photos. I wanted to take pictures for the blog but figured I could just use my phone until 2) I lost my phone (my new phone!) and finally 3) my feet KILLED from standing for over 6 hours straight after a workday when I am usually standing doing chemistry. Some girls in attendance were wearing heels. I don't see how anybody can stand through a 5 hour show in that. insane. I also learned that I will not see anyone at Stubb's in the summer unless I am absolutely crazy about them.

It was an adventure and a brand new experience for me. At least Ryan enjoyed the show, it was after all for him. Besides, I am going to have to do things like this if I am going to get him to take me to see Michael Buble or someone like that. =)

Other parts of the weekend included cleaning Mike's place/ getting my stuff together to move out. His wife gets back tomorrow! Tonight is my last night there, and I am so excited. I just can't wait to be home, in my bed, with my kitties. I am prone to forgetfulness, but I can keep it in check most of the time if I plan ahead in advance so I can make sure I have everything I need. It's just impossible for me to keep this act up when I am spread out over my place, another place and the lab.

I can't wait to get sewing again. I have Alyssa's duvet cover to make. I also went shopping this weekend for some gifts I am going to make for my cousin's wedding, and an old labmate who is having his first baby next month. They will be my main focus this next weekend. For now, I need to focus on moving back home and working on my group meeting presenation which is this Friday. I didn't know this until last week, but the boss will be in attendance! It needs to be good, so I will try really hard not to get distracted by these exciting projects in the meantime.

If I have the time, I'll try to get a teaser post with some of the fabric this week. Have a good one!

S Cubed

2009-07-18T16:59:00.012-05:00

I mentioned earlier about the secret package I was mailing off...well it finally got home to my mom! It was something I made for her. Viola!

The Sea, Sand and Sky Blanket

A while ago, Lisa brought up Joelle's Granny Square Blanket over at the Purl Bee and told me she thought I should get hookin' on such a project. I thought it would be a cool thing to make, but I was busy at the time so just made a note of it. Then one day just before Mother's Day, I was standing by the yarn in Joann's and I decided to do it for my mom. They had a nice selection of blues and whites, which I knew I wanted. My mom is Dutch-Indonesian so she loves the blue and white together, like Delpht blue. She also loves yellow (such a happy color) and I thought all the colors would go really well together.

closeup of some colors

When it came to actually deciding what colors to use, I turned to some of the fondest memories I have..... going to the beach. I have already talked about Jalama and how camping there is a family tradition. But there were other beach trips that I will never forget. In the summer, we would clean up the house on Monday, and on Tueday Mom would pack us five kids, plus the cousins into our Previa, drive down windy highway 74 while listening to Odyssey tapes and oldies music where we ended up a hour later to spend the whole day at the beach in Dana Point (Salt Creek by the Ritz Carlton). We would play endlessly in the waves, build sand castles and all nine of us would gang up together to build a wall to challenge the incoming tide. We would pile and pack, pile and pack while the little girls built a moat to buffer the onslaught of the coming whitewater. Then we would sit back with our little debbie rolls and capri sun drinks cheering when our wall triumphed and "awwww"ing when it finally succumbed. (Writing this now, I can only imagine what mom was thinking watching us kids hurriedly scrambling with our sand while Ben and I barked commands at the younger ones.) We would usually leave between three and four to get home just in time to shower and wash up for Bible study at our house that night. We did this every week in the summers.

This blanket is a thank you to my mom for all those great days of staring at the white clouds billowing overhead in the blue sky, sand trickling through my toes and fingers, bright rays of yellow sunshine peeping through the clouds to burn off the morning gloom, falling asleep on the warm beach to the sound of crashing waves and flying gulls, a vibrant sky meeting an endless sea, foamy waves tickling the beach, white caps cresting from the breeze coming off the deep blue ocean, watching dolphins and surfers playing in the breakers, a blazing sun sinking into the dark water, and all the contentment that comes with getting to do this with your brother, sisters and cousins. Those were the best times!

It is a personal blanket, about 65" x 65". Looking back now I realize that I should have put down my backpack next to it for a size comparison. It will be the perfect blanket for her when she is sitting down next to her fireplace, with a full pot of tea and a Christmas movie on. I have never known anyone who loves Christmas movies as much as my mom. It should be better than having one of my sisters go grab one of the extra big blankets out of the closet, this will cover her perfectly and it's snuggly soft. (I showed it to Ryan when I was finished, put it on him and he said, "Missy, you better get that off me before I lose the ability to move!" Yes, it feels that good)

I know it's two months late, but Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you

Photo-op

2009-07-15T12:40:00.022-05:00

Man, it's sweltering outside. On my way to the post office (I am so lucky we have one here on campus!) to mail a special item, I stopped to take some pictures of it. I didn't have time to take photos for my blog entry featuring said item this morning at home, so I took it outside near our campus' turtle pond since I wasn't feeling the fluorescent lit atmosphere in the lab. Ew and who wants pictures of the lab anyways?

I know I have said this before...but I love our turtle pond. It's kinda sad to admit, but it's one of the reasons that I chose to come to UT. I loved that they had a turtle pond, and I knew that I would love to walk by it everyday and look at the turtles and be envious of their easy-happy-go-lucky-basking-in-the-sun kind of lives. I guess I live vicariously through them, because my life is anything but that right now.

The pond is pretty much right outside my building, sits under the watchful shadow of the bell tower, and there is a nice grassy area nearby that is partially shaded by ancient oak trees. A lot of people hang out here and eat lunch or read a book and study. (I am highly jealous of these people too) The pond consists of three tiers. (You can double click the pictures if a better view is needed)

View of the pond from the lowest level

The uppermost level is filled with lotus flowers. Then next come the water lilies and koi. Ryan and I have seen a snapping turtle in this section before, but I have not seen him in a while. The second tier has a little waterfall leading to the lowest level that is filled with red-ear sliders and box turtles. There are probably close to a hundred of these turtles in there. Ryan taught me how to identify the different types...otherwise I wouldn't have a clue!

Some little guys basking on a rock

more tanning turtles

There are several basking rocks and usually they are fighting and clawing a way to get out into the sun. Sometimes it's really funny because they will be stacked three high, with a little baby one on the top. And they all lay there doing the "superman" (you know, that exercise that works your lower back where you lay on your stomach and raise your arms and legs up off the ground) ...kinda like the little guy towards the back of the rock in the top photo. I wish I could have gotten a shot of them stacked as such, but there were a bunch of kids out tossing bread and there was pretty much a feeding frenzy going on at the other end of the pond.

turtle hobby #2: begging for food

feeding craziness

This poor guy was stuck up in level two looking over the waterfall at his buddies chowing bread.

lone water lily

I love water lilies. Usually there are tons of them, but there was only this one today. But when they bloom, they do in pink, yellow, white and orange. So pretty.

Moving on to the lotus level....
I think these flowers are absolutely, amazingly gorgeous. I apologize in advance for the lighting. I went out right in the middle of the day, so some of the pics are a bit saturated.

the tall leafiness of the lotus

every here and there, a beauty pokes through! Two different stages of openness...

So delicate and peaceful

From a different angle...

one gone to seed. In case you were wondering what those big, brown bee-hivey looking additions to bouquets were, its these once dried!

Oh mom, Jerry says "hi" =)

Completely unrelated to my turtle pond excursion... In case y'all didn't know. I love my cats.

Tesia overseeing one of her mom's projects...

and getting completely exhausted in the process

They are such great company and they crack me up. Especially Ramses. He is such a character. I love how they both have to be where I am at, they talk to me, follow me around and are so engaging. Ramses is practically my little sidekick. He is always involved in whatever I am doing whether it's wrapping gifts, making dinner and especially eating dinner. But I love them both so much.

Ramses on the couch with Ryan watching a movie during a movie night
He is so sweet, look how he is grabbing Ryan's arm with his legs. So cute.

Daydreaming

2009-07-10T16:59:00.004-05:00

Maybe it's my uncle's recent engagement. Perhaps it's my cousin's wedding in three weeks. And I know it's because the girls in my family are really looking forward to when it's my turn....

This dress is so ethereal. I like how the straps are sheer. It's sexy...shows some skin while still being modest and classy.

The style of the next Kenneth Pool dress is "mesmerized". The model looks very "unmesmerized" and I wish I could wipe that drab, bored look off her face, but I do like this dress. It is very delicate and feminine, and a tad fairy tell with the feathery skirt.

So romantic. The layers of organza are awesome.

Christos- Bella

Love these cap sleeves! And just this whole look.

this was fun.

Heading into the weekend

2009-07-10T15:41:00.005-05:00

Wow, time sure has flown by since I last posted. A lot has happened since then...

Ryan's birthday.
I made german chocolate (his favorite) cupcakes and Coco's Cinnamon Chocolate-Chip Sour Cream Cake for people at the lab to enjoy with their morning coffee. I wasn't sure what they would think of the coffee cake, but it was a huge hit and was gone before the cupcakes. Definitely tasty. If you do try to make this cake (which I recommend you do) just watch that when you poke it to make sure it is through cooking, that you do not mistake the gooey sugar/cinnamon mixture or choc. chip for batter. My cake was a little darker than I would have liked, but it was still moist and gone by midday. Just fyi peeps. =)
We celebrated by going to sushi at his favorite restaurant, Musashino.
His favorites are unagi (fresh water eel), sake (salmon) and saba (mackerel) a la carte, and a roll they have with salmon skin. He loves the smokey flavor...so when I go to Oregon next month I need to make sure I get him a box of smoked salmon!
I also surprised him with tickets to the Rise Against/ Rancid show at Stubb's BBQ (we saw Ben Folds there earlier this year) coming up later this month.

This is a picture I found online of the stage so you can see that the shows are pretty intimate. It is a very small venue, so you're up pretty close to the band. I (of course) forgot my camera when we saw BF there, but we were much closer than whoever snapped this pic at a show. There is a slight grade where the audience stands, and of course it helps that we are both really tall. I can see over most people's heads and he, being 6'5" is a head taller than anyone else there. Anyhow, we both really love Stubb's to see shows.
I bought those tickets at least a month before his birthday, right after he offhandedly mentioned he would rather see these guys than Tool (his favorite band) who are also playing in San Antonio. I had the money then, so I got the tickets and I knew he would be so excited about it... it was so hard to keep it a secret. But I did, and he was thoroughly surprised.

Fourth of July.
Spent not in the lab. Laid out by the pool. Met up with Ryan, got a snowcone, saw Transformers at the Alamo drafthouse and then went to see the fireworks on Lady Bird Lake. It was perfect.

Getting back into my routine.
I finally rode my back into work again this week. The weather actually permitted this...so that I would not pass out from heat stroke along the way. But I totally surprised myself. I thought my ride home yesterday would be painful....but I was feeling it, in a good way. I rode in high gears all the way back, even up this wretchedly long hill towards the end of my ride. Usually I am in like 1, 3 at the hardest part, and last night I did it in 2, 4. (those are the gears: front, back) Oh, but I was suprised this morning too. I couldn't move out of bed. I think part of this is due to the fact that I swam laps for an hour yesterday too, but once I got moving this morning I was all good.

Finished another project.
Well, mostly. I need to do a couple final touches, like weaving in ends. And I will not be able to post pics until I get this sent out to the recipient and they receive it.

Fun weekend planned.
Team America (the American students in our lab) has decided to do lunch tomorrow. This will include grilling and emptying refridgerator contents of beer ( at an unnamed location, that two of us have access to). =) The guys will take care of the beer, and I will make something yummy. Perhaps my pasta salad and a delicious dessert to go with the burgers and brats Ryan has planned. I am sure Coco over at Roost has a great recipe for this occasion. Then, we are all going over to Jason's to watch the UFC fight on his big screen.
Sunday I need to get that project ready for send-off and will lazily spend my afternoon reading a book as I lay on my floaty raft and get myself a couple shades darker. Oh, I am SO GOOD at multitasking.

I have a new cousin on the way!
Oom Vince, my mom's baby brother, just found out he is going to be a daddy! He and his new fiance are six weeks along. I am soooo happy for them. With 18 older cousins, most of them girls, I can already safely say that this baby is going to be super spoiled. I hope he has a little boy, who he can take hunting and throw football's with (he was a big fball player in h.s.) and do all that guy stuff with. A little girl would so cute too....oh she'd be such a daddy's little girl! I can't wait to find out. =)

Ok, well I wish I had more pics. I have come to not like posting without pictures....it's always nice to have something to look at! I really need to be better about using my camera. I'll try to do better, I promise.

Happy weekend everyone!

Family

2009-06-27T11:52:00.008-05:00

This week has just flown by. . . I feel like I hardly got anything done.

Here's a summary:

~ I rode my bike to campus 4 times this week. I wanted to do this everyday, but it just was not possible. I am quite proud of though, especially since our average high temperature this week has been 105.

~ I started swimming at the pool, and absolutely love it.

~ I FINALLY got my fat quarters for the fat quarter swap all packaged and sent.

~ getting in the mindset to get the materials and start Alyssa's project. She just arrived in Kodiak, Alaska yesterday!

~ Ryan's little sister is here in Austin to spend some time with him before his birthday. We went to the Alamo drafthouse last night and saw The Proposal, which I thought was really funny and cute and I enjoyed. Today they will probably be hanging out by the pool or go to Barton Springs, while I am here at work. But tonight we will get something to eat, go see the bats and try to find some live music somewhere.

~ Tomorrow, the plan is to go shooting. I know Ryan is thrilled about this.

Maybe it's because his sister is here, and because I feel like I have missed out on the summer vacation since my family already did the whole Jalama thing and I couldn't go, but I am really missing family today. While I saw my mom, sisters, and others in Connecticut for Alyssa's graduation, I haven't seen my dad, brother, Briana, Michelle, Oom Tiki and even more family since Christmas. I miss you guys!

The Williams kids at Ben's Pepperdine graduation, 2007
(Chanelle, Ashley, Ben, me, Ingrid)

Dad and his number 1.
(Taken late one night while I had been packing to move to Texas)

me and Briana, my cousin who is less than a month older than me.
Playmates since we were babies, and my closest cousin.

Michelle, a college girlfriend, celebrating her birthday with my family.
Mom is pictured here with her, and five bucks says that's Michelle's favorite confetti cake.

me and Oom Tiki, my mom's baby brother.
He got me tickets to the 2005 Rose Bowl USC/UT national championship.
Best. game. ever.

Michelle and I before I moved to Texas.

Banana and I last winter break.

Ben and David (Briana's brother), in their crazy stunt photo in Audrey's (their older sister) wedding photo booth. Her wedding was recently highlighted in Southern Weddings!

Baba and I the summer after I moved out here. I miss that kind of color.

At least I'll get a good dose at Aaron's wedding in August...though this will only be my mom's side of the family and I won't see any of the Williams side. Hopefully I can make it out to Cali in September! I love you guys.

Ryan, his little sis and my kitties will have to be enough for now. Happy weekend.

Wishlist

2009-06-24T10:20:00.007-05:00

Sigh. I've mentioned how poor graduate students are, right? I know I have.
Things are especially lean in the summer months when I am not on a teaching assistantship. Man, I cannot wait to get out of here and into the real world, with a real job, real salary and a life!

Ok, enough whining. Until I can buy, I can wish. Here is a list of things I would either 1) like for my birthday or 2) buy if I had some extra spending cash.

~Lady Antebellum's album. I have heard that it is really good, and I love their song "Run to You".

This costs what, 10 bucks? sad. Usually I treat myself to a new music album every month, but I can't this summer. It'll have to wait until fall.

~ JoAnn gift card. I need to buy a ton of fabric for Alyssa's duvet cover that I promised to make her. I have settled on a color scheme (red, aqua, black and cream), and now need to get the fabrics. I've started scoping out online for pretty designer fabrics that are on sale. I'll have to mix it up because you really cannot beat some of these prints.

Alexander Henry - reminiscent of gulls at the beach?

Alexander Henry - I really like this light fabric!

Joel Dewberry deer valley - Antler Damask

Alexander Henry

Joel Dewberry deer valley - I love this red

Alexander Henry

The pattern for her duvet cover calls for 13 different fabrics, 5 for the foundation, and 4 each of light and dark prints for the "bobbles". By the way, I plan to make the patchwork duvet cover from Amy Butler's In Stitches. I'm not gonna lie....I'm kinda freaking out about this project (and I haven't even started on it!) First, I have never done anything patchwork before....how am I supposed to make sure all the fabrics match? Maybe that's the beauty of patchwork...they don't have to? Like the ones I have selected from SMS and Pink Chalk Studios stores that fit my color scheme.... birds, what looks like a cotton plant, scallops, big aqua flowers, etc. It seems like too much, like maybe I should just stick with flowers, and some "shape" sort of prints. When I look at other projects in blogland, there are all sorts of prints within a given quilt or blanket, so maybe this will be ok. I'm just scared that I will spend all this money to put something together and have it turn out looking absolutely crazy. Or I will like it but Alyssa won't. Maybe it's just that activation barrier that one must overcome when it comes to starting something new, that you have no idea how to do, and you come up with reasons not to start, and so you get stuck. Either way, I can't work on it until I get the fabrics, and getting them has its own activation barrier in itself.

~ I need a setup something like this for my bike.

This actually looks uber cheap to do, but I have seen the metal versions you can buy.
Right now, I wear my backback (which is full with lunch, change of clothes, lab notebook, etc) when I ride. I get hot enough as it is biking 7 miles to campus in 90 degree heat at 8 am (Thank you Texas summers).

~ iPod armband. I don't have one for my new nano, and right now I keep it secured under my sports bra strap. (Don't worry mom, I only have wear one of the ear plugs, so I can still hear traffic too!)

from the Apple site

~ I need to get a dress altered...take the straps in. I have never gotten anything tailored before, so I have no idea how much it would cost. But I would like to wear this dress to my cousin's wedding in August, so I really need to get this done!

~ new workout shoes. Mine need to soon be retired.

~Some of this fabric:

Because I need everything seahorse... (Mendocino)

~Ryan's birthday is next Tuesday. I already got him that Cabela's gift card, but it would be nice to treat him to a nice dinner somewhere...something special. He's told me a steak or our favorite sushi restaurant (Musashino) would be awesome. We haven't had a treat like that in a really long time. I just got contacted by an organic student this week looking for a tutor to meet 3x a week, so I'll put whatever money I make towards the bday deal. We might end up having to pick up some nice steaks and grill 'em ourselves. It just seems like so little. I know this is where we both are at in our lives and we need to make do with what we have. This is life in grad school. At least we are both healthy, and have a roof over our heads, and our animals to go home to. He just works so hard and deals with a lot, and he does so much for me....I would like to do more than grilling steaks at the house. (Who wants to spend their birthday grilling at their bosses house?) I'll see what I can come up with.

I think that's it for now... I know I had a couple other things on my mind, but they have since left me as people have come to talk to me/ ask me questions. (yeah, in the lab) Those other things must not have been that big a deal.

It's Wednesday...the week is almost halfway over!
Have a great day.

Last Night

2009-06-17T15:31:00.008-05:00

A trip to Cabela's: $6.80 (in gas)

Floating camo shotgun case: $25.00

Shotgun cleaning kit: $19.99

12 gauge 9 and 4 shot (ammo): $30.00

Going to the "restroom" and coming back with a surprise early birthday gift card thus putting a huge smile on this man's face: priceless

Happy early birthday Mister. I love you!
(in his winter coat from this past year)

Now he's ready for skeet shooting this weekend!