Blogging from A to Z 2013

It's been 2 years since I last participated in the Blogging from A to Z challenge. 

I figured it was about time for me to try it again. Especially now that I no longer have to worry about classes or studying getting in the way. Yay!!

My posts for the 2011 challenge were kind of all about me (as is the norm for this blog) and I plan to pretty much go along with the same theme this year. Just plain old regular blog posts. It will be interesting to see what has and what has not changed over the last couple of years.

How about you? Are you up for the challenge? Click on the button below to learn more.

I did it!!

I passed!! Whoo hoo!!

One

I woke up with a terrible headache that lasted the entire day. I managed to finish reading the last few sections of the study guide and I punched holes in all the manual pages that I had to print. The Husband made the most awesome dinner and I found a non-iPod calculator I can use. I think I am all set. One day more...

Two not Three

Apparently, I don't know how to count. I only have 2 days left until my exam, not 3. Oops!

I blame the 11th of March. I was supposed to write down the number 10 but instead I wrote the date. I didn't even realize that the number of days was off until today. I was on auto-pilot countdown. Let's hope my brain is not so scattered 2-days from now.

Four

Hello Target.

Five

Looking forward to doing a lot more of this in just 5 days.

Six

Oh hey! Don't mind me, I'm just drying off the Christmas tree. What else is there to do 6 days before my exam?

Seven

It's Friday! 7 days to go...

Eight

Super long work day + Super long study session = Super tired Me. 

Eight more days.

Nine

Shhh.... I'm studying. Nine more days to go.

Ten

Not much studying getting done tonight. My Mom is in the hospital and the water line to our water heater exploded. Water everywhere! 10 days to go...

Eleven

The realization hit me this morning that my big exam is NEXT week.

The appointment is marked on the calendar. I have been quite aware of the date. But this morning I REALLY looked at the calendar.

How can it be the 11th of March already? Only eleven days to go.

Work day is done, time to get my study on.

It's here!

Study guide is in the house! Normal life postponed until March 22nd.

Currently...

Waiting… to post photos of my first week of Project Life until AFTER I take my exam. The less distractions the better.

Ordering… the official study guide for my certification exam. I have an outline of what is on the test but I'm worried that I am not studying the right way. Hopefully, I will get it in time to review at least a little bit prior to my exam next month.

Dealing… with chapped lips. I have never had chapped lips before and I don't know how to get rid of them. It's been over 2 weeks now and nothing I try seems to work. I have always thought it would be nice to have fuller lips but not this way. I look like a 2-year old that has enjoyed the cherry Kool-aid just a bit too much. I am currently using Aquaphor but so far nothing has worked. I have tried Chapstick, Blistex, Carmex, Mary Kay Satin lips, lotion, petroleum jelly (Vasoline) and drinking lots of water. I have not tried any of the medicated lip balms. Do those work?

Right Now

Right now I am stuck inside while this is going on outside.

Right now it is snowing in the desert.

Currently...

Eating... Crunchy Cookie Butter. OMG!

Mailing... my application for my CTR certification exam. I actually got my application mailed BEFORE the deadline. Go me! Now begins the wait for my application to be approved.

Freaking... out about said CTR certification exam.

Looking... forward to finally getting started on my Project Life album. It took awhile for my first week's photos to be delivered, but they are finally here and the weekend cannot get here soon enough. Scrapbooking. Yay!

Knitting... nothing. All my projects are just sitting here staring at me.

Crocheting... see "Knitting".

Squeeling... at all the Ravelry faves and helps that my Easton baby blanket has gotten. People really do like my blanket and that makes me happy.

I lied

Remember when I said that I was done with studying and that I didn't have to do it anymore? 

Well I lied.

I may be done with taking classes but I still have some studying left to do. I have a national certification exam that I must take in March. 

But before I can even think about the studying, I need to be approved to take the exam. I have spent this month working on getting all my ducks in a row so that I can mail off my application by this Monday. That's only 5-days from now! I just have one more signature that I am waiting on. I am totally freaking out about the whole thing.  I can't wait until it is all over.

2012: A year in scrapbooking

Well I guess I didn't "hope" hard enough because I did absolutely no scrapbooking in 2012.

But I did manage to share a two-page layout (that I actually made back in 2009). Which totally counts since it had been packed away in a box, forgotten and unseen for all these years. 

Even though I didn't scrapbook any layouts last year, I did participate in the Index Card a Day challenge. Technically it's not scrapbooking, but I did use my scrapbook supplies to make them so that is sort of the same thing, right?

This year should be totally different. Seriously. I really mean it this time. This year I will be doing Project Life and have even signed up for my first ever kit club {Citrus Twist Kits}. I don't really need any new scrapbook supplies but I think it will be fun to get a package of new goodies in the mail every month. In fact, I got confirmation that my package should arrive on Friday. Wait....That's tomorrow! Whoo hoo!

2012: A year in yarn

2012 was all about the blankets.....oh and the scarves. I guess sticking with what I know how to make helps with actually getting the projects done. I finished 2 of each so a total of 4 yarny projects for the year. That is one more than I completed in 2011 and one less than I completed in 2010. Sounds like success to this procrastinator.

My first project for the year was a knitted scarf that I made for the husband. It is also the first knitting project where I came up with the pattern on my own.

My next yarny project was also a scarf. This one though took me way too long to finish. Only 2 years! What is even sadder is that it only needed 32 rows to finish it.

The blueberry {ripple} blanket was my only completed crochet project for the year. I really do like making these ripple blankets. The pattern is so easy to memorize and that makes it a perfect project for mindless crochet in front of the television. I will most definitely be making more of these.

My final project for 2012 was a simple knitted baby blanket. I loved working with cotton and the garter stitch made the blanket really squishy. I see myself making more of these, maybe even one in a larger size.

2012: A year in photos

It's that time again. Time for my yearly year in photos post. I know I say this every year but looking through my photos from last year, I have to say I took practically no pictures what-so-ever. Which actually when I think about it kind of makes it easier to pick which ones are my favorites.

So here you go....some of my favorite photos from 2012. Thanks for looking.

I started knitting a special present for my Mom.

I bought a plant and it survived!

I bought another plant and it did not.

A special visitor showed up in our backyard.

It snowed in our freezer.

Arizona sunsets are awesome!

I saw a heart in amongst the clouds.

My cousin had a baby.

I won my first blog giveaway.

The husband sure knows how to decorate an awesome tree.

The end of the year...perfect time for a cat nap.

Good-bye 2012. Here's to taking a lot more photos in 2013!

Baby Easton has a blanket

 .....and the baby blanket is done.

I really love the look (and feel) of garter stitch. It is so squishy! And garter stitch using Cotton-Ease is even more squishy which really helped make a repetitious pattern less monotonous. This blanket has a very simple pattern which is perfect for me since I love patterns that don't require me to concentrate too much when I'm working on them.

I love that I finished making this blanket just in time for Christmas. I was so excited to bind-off that I totally forgot my plan to use a different bind-off method using a larger needle like I did for the cast-on.

I am totally in love with this blanket. One of my favorite projects so far.

Pattern: Super Easy Baby Blanket from Purl Bee 

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in "Seaspray, Lime, Taupe, Maize and Terracotta"

Needles: US 8 (5.0 mm) and US 9 (5.5 mm)

Started: July 25, 2012

Finished: December 24 2012

My Ravelry link: Easton

My modifications: 

I cast-on 120 stitches, using size 9 needles and knit the blanket using size 8 needles.

I slipped the first stitch of each row (purl wise) and attached new colors using the back join. Each block of color was 34 ridges (68 rows).

Finished measurements: 38 x 27 inches.

Blueberry {ripple}

The Blueberry {ripple} is finished and in the hands of Nephew 2.0.

I am a bit worried that the size of this ripple is a little off. It isn't as square as the Brownie {ripple} and that bothers me. I didn't want to buy another skein of yarn for just a few rows, so after 5 skeins I called it done. But since Nephew 2.0 is taller than Nephew 1.0 I think I may need a larger blanket. I will have to ask him if he wants me to make it longer but I hope that once the blanket gets some use that it will stretch out a bit.

And of course the little stinker had to jump in on the action. It doesn't matter if you tell her no, she still does what she wants to. The stubborn look on her face says it all.

Pattern: Neat Ripple Pattern from Attic24

Yarn: Red Heart with Love in "True Blue" and "Black"

Hook: 6.0 mm (J)

Chained: 171

Finished measurements: 53 x 60 inches

Started: September 23, 2012

Finished: December 23, 2012

My Ravelry link: Blueberry {ripple}

Currently...

Playing... with my new iPod Touch (thank you Santa) what a difference there is from the 2nd generation to the 5th. I can't believe how crisp everything looks. And the apps! The apps all work! Amazing!

Finishing... quite a few knitting & crochet projects. I have empty needles and waiting yarn. I am itching to start anew with one of the many projects I have been dreaming to make. I just need to decide on which one.

Thinking... about way too many things at the moment. A couple of big deadlines coming up next month and I just can't seem to get them out of my mind.

Wondering... if I will find enough photos for my year in photos post. It might help if I actually started looking instead of just wondering about it.

Wishing... that the Christmas tree could stay up forever.

Scrunchable Scarf

I just love this time of year when it comes to my working on my yarny projects. It's the time of year when projects get finished and sometimes it's the time of year when projects get put away and kind of forgotten about. My grape scrunchy scarf would be one of the latter.

This scarf started out as a Christmas present back in 2010, but then I changed my mind and decided to make something else so it got put aside. It sat for quite awhile on top of my printer collecting dust. Then it spent some time hanging out in the closet where I didn't have to look at it everyday. I finally decided that it needed to be finished. It pretty much was already done, it only had a few rows left to knit. I don't know why it took me so long to do it but here it is. Another project FINISHED!

Pattern: Scrunchable Scarf by Susan McConne

Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Weight in "Grape Jam"

Needle: US 10 1/2 (6.5 mm)

Started: October 31, 2010

Finished: December 9, 2012

My Ravelry link: Grape Scrunchy

Merry Merry Christmas!

still here

Happy Non-Apocalypse Day!

Back in 2009

Way back in 2009...I scrapbooked.

I know, I know that was years ago but soon after that we bought a house and everything went into boxes. Recently, I opened one of these boxes and was surprised at what I found. I thought the box would be filled with scrapbook paper and finished scrapbook layouts. I was wrong. I found tons of pages in various stages of completion and lots of supplies too. I also found the following pages. These were the last pages I scrapped right before the move.

I have 3-years worth of photo-a-day projects. The first year was 365 Days (a self-portrait a day for a year), then I did two years of Project 365 (taking a photo a day for a year). Since Project 365 is a photography project I never really planned on scrapbooking them, but I knew I wanted to do something with all the photos I took. I just didn't know what that something would be. I love the look of photo books but didn't really think I could afford one and to be honest I am a bit intimidated when it comes to making one.

For these pages I wanted to concentrate on showcasing the photos so there is very little journaling (I pretty much just copied what I wrote on Flickr) and the pages are very simple.

Thanks for looking.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy 12-12-12

The start of the Blueberry {ripple}

I am 39 rows into my next ripple with only 21 days left until Christmas Eve. I have no idea how many rows I have left to go but I hope to finish crocheting this blanket in time to give it to Nephew 2.0 for Christmas.

I have actually been working on it a little bit here and there since the end of September, but I really haven't gotten very far. A fact that really shouldn't surprise me since apparently, I was in the same exact predicament last year.

I had all kinds of ideas of what colors to use but decided in the end to go with his favorite colors of blue and black and decided to use Red Heart With Love acrylic yarn. I had the hardest time trying to decide which yarn to use but thanks to SIX 50% off coupons the decision to use this yarn was made for me. You just can't beat paying $2.50 for a 370 yard skein. I have not used Red Heart in a very long time and the Red Heart With Love is a lot softer than the regular Red Heart. So far it hasn't been too bad to work with and hopefully it will be just like the regular Red Heart in that it will be indestructible and last forever, which is perfect for a teenage boy.