Grandads Vest

This is the vest I knit for my Grandad for christmass. He liked it very much. I spent a good part of christmass eve frantically trying to sew it together and crochet the edge on the neck and arm holes.

Oh Me, Oh My

This is our dinosaur cookie cutter, not at bunny no, its a dinosaur. Can't you tell?

Christmass Eve Sugar Cookie Party

So here we are at our christmass eve sugar cookie party. Every year on christmass eve we make sugar cookies and decorate them. We had several friends over to help us with that project. Mrs. Katie a science teacher at EC High School who also goes to our church, Jessica, Jon's girlfriend, J.T. Perry who is an JROTC friend of Jon and Namoi, and Abby who is the daughter of our landlady.







Hanging out on the couch



Just us girls hanging out on the couch.



Abby and Naomi cutting cookies.

I have dyed

Ok, so its red. What can I say?

Wisdom Teeth

The teeth on the top are my upper wisdom teeth and had been taken out some time ago. The teeth on the bottom are my lower wisdom teeth and were taken out yesterday afternoon. They had to be broken before they could be pulled out. I have very stubborn teeth.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I have work from 7am to 2. Then I go strait to the dentist to have my lower wisdom teeth removed. I have the next 2 days off, to recuperate, clean my room(which is a ridiculous mess)and do some major school work.

A New Computer

I have made my first investment with the money I earned with my first job. (My parents generously offered to pay half, even so it was a pretty penny) A laptop computer. I figure with my going of to collage in the sometime near future it would be a good thing to have.

At first I bought a Gateway just like the one that my Dad has. I talked to a friend to see if he would optimize it for me, and he suggested that I not get a Gateway, that I would be better off to go with an HP, or an Accer. Sense I had not opened the box I returned the Gateway and ended up with this Dell. So far I have been very pleased with it.

Even though I don't technically need a computer to study, I have all the books, it is still much easier to be able to look up something if I need clarification, and with my own laptop I can do that from home or go down to the library or coffee shop for a change of scenery.

I Told You So

Did I not tell you to be careful when driving. 4 days, 4 days after getting his licence Jon-Paul has totaled the van. That has got to be some kind of record.

Now it Was Not His Fault. He was rear ended when waiting to turn into our housing division. Everyone is OK. The van is not.

I was out front giving the shrubs a hair cut when Naomi comes dashing down the street towards the house with a look of panic on her face calling for Mom. They we're in an accident and everyone was OK. We rushed down there. Naomi had been sent to get Mom because they did not have a working cell with them and Jon-Paul being the driver could not leave the car.

So sometime in the near future we will be getting ourselves a new fuel efficient car.

Warning, teenage drivers

After gathering all the needed paperwork Jon-Paul has at last, his drivers license. So I suggest that you be careful while on the road.

Garden Greens

This is what I got from the garden in the way of the mixed greens that I planted. Not much. Mom used them in the salad for dinner and they ended up being very bitter, at least to my taste.

Happy (Late) Birthday

Jon-Paul's birthday was on the 11th. Happy Birthday. This is the jacket that I made for him. It is suede that I got at OHCO (a fabric store that sometimes sells fabric by the pound insted of the yard) for a VERY good price. The jacket is a little bit big (I was unsure exactly how the pattern would compare, and I figured to big is better than to small) but that just leaves room for a sweater underneath when the cold really sets in.

More Bugs

One morning, we wake up to find an army of ants trooping through our kitchen. One platoon marching all the way around the kitchen ceiling (what they wanted on the ceiling only they know) and another making a bee line (or maybe it was an ant line) for the raisin bran. Jon-Paul tracked this line down and found that another had beat him to it. We then commenced to remove this hunter and attempted to move the hunted out of our house.

Infestation

Our PC had become infested with viruses. Mostly due to games as I was told. So I have been unable to blog for some time. I have lots to tell, and I'm not going to try and tell it backwards so you will just have bear with me.

Bugs

You can find some STRANGE bugs in Georgia. Some kind of caterpillar/grasshopper/centipede thing hiding in the down stairs bathroom.

Mosey Continued

This is my latest finished protect.
This is not the best angle, but it is not easy to take a picture of yourself.

They turned out very well, except for the fact that they are both right legs, so the ties are both on the same side. An easy fix with a little engineering and some brute force.

Bruce loves the pom-poms

This is my first try with cables. Up next, felting.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

This is my 2ed to latest finished project. Sorry about the quality, the camera's auto focus does not always work very well.
It's a pretty simple white dress in and of itself. But I put buttons at the points where the straps would attach so that the straps are completely interchangeable, and I can criss-cross them in almost any direction that does not manage to choke me.
The Lace Cap that I made was originally meant to go with this dress.

Lace Cap

My newest finished project. A crochet lace cap. With a gold bit of elastic to hold it in place and to add a bit of color.

Its a very simple pattern that I mostly made up as I went along.

Modeled by Grey the stuffed dog.

Birthday Gifts

So my birthday was a little short on gifts. Mostly because I had to work that week and there was just not time to take me shopping. So what I got was a bag of chocolate kisses and a check for $50.

This is what I spent the check on.
Most of the yarn was on the summer sale on Webs.

The orange bulky wool (looks red in the picture but its actually a burnt orange) I plan on trying my hand at a pair of felted slippers.

The Eden bamboo I was planing on making a couple of shrugs with, but I misjudged the amount of yarn in each ball. You can't do the same thing with 50 grams of bamboo that you can with 50 grams of lace weight wool.


I was given a pattern by a good friend of mine for a graduation gift and I have been looking for the perfect yarn to make it with. This is what I found, and I hope that I got enough. Hopefully if I have to get more it will be okay if I don't have the same dye lot because the yarn is already variegated.

The Last Storyteller

If you have not read The Last Storyteller by Diane Noble you should, it's a wonderful book.
This is the summary on the back.

Taite Abbot has always been a free spirit, and she has the tattoos and piercings to prove it. So when her boyfriend, medical student Sam Wellington, leaves for a fellowship thousands of miles away before he knows she is pregnant, Taite is unwilling to destroy his chance of becoming a doctor. Completely unprepared to face parenthood alone, she decided to get an abortion. But without any emotional or financial resources, Taite first seeks solace from her Welsh grandmother, Naini.

From the moment the disillusioned young woman arrives, Naini knows that time is running out, both for Taite and for herself. The aging woman must make her granddaughter understand the heart and soul of their family's ancient legacy. But for Taite to discover the passion and faith that com keep love alive, Naini must tell the hard stories, one last time.

Interweaving a medieval adventure with the dilemmas of contemporary romance, The Last Storyteller draws ancient grace into modern lives through the powerful telling of stories.

Totally awesome, Check it out.

2008 ICCEC International Convocation

Wow. The convocation was great.
Naomi and I spent most of our time with the Benei Aor. A dance an drama team from Brazil and Alabama. We learned a dance called Flames that we performed in the Thursday night service. Special thanks to Gabriella who cut into her free time to give me some extra help with the choreography.
On Friday we (we being the Benei Aor and any other youth that wanted to come, I think that it came to a total of 150 youth) went to a YMCA and the Benei Aor performed there also. The Brazil team had a few dances and a drama called "don't touch". (Much to the delight of one of the girls at the Y who is from Brazil her self) The US team also performed some dances that they had worked on, and then both teams and the kids from the convocation who had joined them performed Flames together.
We went from there to protest at an abortion clinic. (carefully keeping within our rights to a peaceful protest) We did the liturgy for the unborn.
The most amazing part of the whole day was when the Benei Aor started their dance called Father of Life. We were at the clinic and it was a very hot day, only about half of us had any shade, it was getting rough on some of the younger kids. After the liturgy the Benei Aor started dancing...

Father of life draw me closer
Lord, my heart is set on you
Let me run the race of time
With you life unfolding mine
And let the peace of God
Let it reign

Oh Holy Spirit Lord my comfort
Strengthen me hold my head up high
And I stand upon your truth
Bringing glory unto you
And let the peace of God
Let it reign

(Chorus)
Oh Lord I hunger for more of you
Rise up within me let me know your truth
Oh Holy Spirit, saturate my soul
And let the life of God
Fill me now
Let your healing power
Breathe life and make me whole
And let the peace of God
Let it reign

Oh Holy Spirit Lord my comfort
Strengthen me hold my head up high
And I stand upon your truth
Bringing glory unto you
And let the peace of God
Let it reign

(Repeat chorus twice)

And let the life of God
Fill me now
Let your healing power
Breathe life and make me whole
And the peace of God
Let it reign

(repeat)

Almost instantly it started to rain, just enough to bring relief from the heat without soaking us. Isn't it wonderful how the with a little word play the Lord can make His presence known.
We did not have a very reliable camera and with each of us usually being in a different place it was difficult to get very many pictures of all of us. I don't even know what we did get yet (I should go track them down). But there were lots of others taking pictures and many of them have been posted on the ICCEC website.
Some of the sermons and speeches have been recorded and you can listen to them here.
Our newest priest and chaplain received his orders while at the convocation and was able to have Dad swear him in as a First Lieutenant at the Friday night service, the stories are here and here.

For the Glory of God

Greg Stier is the founder of Dare 2 Share, a conference that the Christ the King's youth group went to some time ago. Basically what he is doing is showing teens how to share their faith, using things that todays teens can relate to. Its really cool. I would recommend that you should check it out, especially if you are a teen or a youth group leader.
Anyhow Greg Stier has a blog that I read regularly, as you can see to your right. I really like his latest post. It's about his friend Art. Check it out.

My Day at Work

So most of you know that I work at kroger (a grocery store in the same chain as Fred Myer) What you my not know is what I do.
I work in the bakery bagging bread. (bread bagger just sounds so official and grand)

A normal work day for me starts a 6:30 when I have to get up to be at work by 8:00.

8:00 am. Start by clocking in and washing up, putting on a hair net and apron. First I bag and tag the "you bake its" (the par-baked breads that you take home to finish the baking process) that the baker has set out for me, and I slice some of yesterdays bread. Slicing bread is one of my least favorite parts of the job, mostly because it just take so long, and I have to move back and forth between two different tables, and you want the bread completely cool (not an issue with yesterdays bread) before you slice it or it will be mashed by the slicer and make a mess. I usually have a full cart by then so I take it out to the selves.

9:30am I bag the hot French bread, then take that out to. The artisan breads come next. Along with the sourdough bread (that has to be sliced too).

10:30am I start on the majority of the bread. The sandwich buns and the hoggie rolls, hot dog buns, sweet Italian subs and Italian bread. Sandwich breads that also have to be sliced. Croissants and cheese sticks, etc. They all have to be bagged in 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 and tagged and put out on the selves.

12:30 I start on the sweets. Pies, cinnamon rolls, turnovers, bear claws and more.

2:00 Break

2:30 Date and price pre-packs, slice cake and make garlic bread.

3:30 Clean up. Wipe down table, clean out slicer, sweep floors.

4:00 Go home.

The times vary of course, different things go out on different days and it depends on how busy the day is.

Happy Birthday to me

(singing) Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me,eee. Happy Birthday to me.
Today is my birthday, if you did not guess that already. I am 19 years old today.

More Sewing Progects

This dress was just thrown together as a quick thing, a bit of an experiment, but it came out ok. The jacket was a separate pattern. It goes well with just about anything an is just right to keep the sun of my shoulders.

Finished Sewing Progects

4th of July shirt

This is my 4th of July shirt that I made

This is our newest plant. It is a palm that came from Dads office. It is in pretty sad shape. It did not get enough light in the office. "He" has been dubbed Pontius "the palm" Pilate.

We found that the larger of the pots on our porch have been trapping water under them, and starting to rot out the wood. So we (by we I mean Mom did all the work) had to rearrange them and put racks under them to lift them off the wood. It has also made it much easer to water them and looks much nicer.

An empty nest

The birds on our porch have flown, all of them. This is a picture of the last baby getting ready to fly off. Mommy and Daddy bird have not been back for a week or so, so I think that they have finished having babies for this year. We will have to get up there and clean out the nest sometime.

The 4th of July

Happy fourth of July. Only 10 days left until my birthday.
I had to work today. I got up a 4:50am to get to work by 6:00am. (I normally start work at 8:00) There was a parade of golf carts around 9:00 (people drive golf carts in Peachtree city Ga like small cars. There are special trails for them and you can drive them alone with only a permit. So parents use them to send their kids out on errands) with the golf carts all decked out in red, white and blue. After that things got crazy in the store. We where dashing about trying to keep the tables stocked.
The good news is that I got to go home at 2:00pm. With plenty of time to get ready to make a nice dinner for the 4th.
Mom and Naomi are in Utah for my aunts wedding today. So its just Dad, Jon-Paul and me. I am going to make a cake and will get Jon-Paul to grill some burgers.

Yellow Tomatoes

These are the first tomatoes to come
out of our garden.


We are going to put them into a taco salad for diner tonight.

New Baby Birds

The baby birds on our porch have hatched. They are very cute little fluff balls.

Subscriber Box II

ok I managed to send myself an email. It should work now. If it does not, I will contemplate the defenestration of the computer.
(I just had to use that word, its so cool)

Subscriber box

I have fixed my subscriber box (I think). If there are anymore problems let me know.

Tomatos and Peppers

Yah, we have baby peppers.

And lots of green tomatoes. To bad that they are still green. There is a big scare over some salmonella outbreaks that trace back to tomatoes, so all of the restaurants and stores are no longer selling some kinds of tomatoes and there not selling any sandwiches or anything with raw tomatoes on it.

Then we have some mixed salad greens that I just transplanted. Hopefully they will grow.

Baking

Today was a little cooler than it has normally been so I decided to do a little baking. They turned out very nice if a little flat.
Flat bread makes for very good pizzas though.

Basil

So this is the first basil harvest. Hopefully there will be another batch.
We have the before picture, and the after picture. Its a big difference huh. There is a big difference (and by that I mean for the better) in taste with garden grown herbs and store bought.

Sunny Side Up.

In the colder months mom likes to put out seed for the birds. Anyone who has seen a bird eat knows that they are not the daintiest eaters in the world, and what the birds don't throw around the squirrels get to.
Anyway this leads to stray sunflower seeds all over. Which leads to stray sunflowers.
The two by the door grew very big.
The others fell into the pots and have to share with another plant are much smaller but still very yellow.