Nephew's Studio

1994

2011-07-11T22:16:00.003-04:00

I found this pic in a box of old letters. It is from Akron, Ohio. I was 5. I loved that princess hat. I even still have it. You can't tell here but the hat was/is bright blue with a lighter blue and sparkly silver streamer. The shirt was mainly lt. blue too, which in a twisted 5 year old kinda way I must have thought matched.

Scholarship

2011-07-11T21:43:00.002-04:00

My biology teacher (my favorite teacher at this school) took it upon himself to nominate me for this scholarship. I had to find two other persons to write a letter of recommendation, making a total of 3. I soon found myself the recipient of $1000 to put towards anything school related such a books, tuition, or required equipment.

It is from the EMC electric company. They have a program that rounds up the electric bill to the nearest dollar and the extra change is then put into a fund that is given out as scholarships every year.

Click on the picture and enlarge it so you can actually read the article.

Voices

2011-07-10T13:25:00.004-04:00

WGTC has a student magazine that showcases poems, art work, photograph, and short stories by students and teachers at the school. The whole of the 2011 edition can be found here. I submitted several things for consideration this year and one of them, a poem, was accepted. It is paired with another on the first page.

"Typewriters"

Denise Landon

Tap Tap Tap

Flow the sounds from next door

Slow fingers pounding out

Red thoughts embodied in black ink

I can now say that I am a published author.

Crafties

2011-07-02T22:33:00.002-04:00

Being out of school for the summer I have plenty of time to work on my crafties. This is my latest finished project. I have been working off and on on it for over a year, maybe two, I don't remember. A few months ago I finally took it into the local yarn shop for help on figuring out how to start a row with a yarn over. I didn't think that was possible before and yet that is what the pattern called for. I have learned several useful techniques through this pattern.

Anyway, it is finally finished and I am very pleased with the results. This is probably the most complex knitting pattern that I have completed yet. The pattern was given to me by a friend as a high school graduation gift. I took a long time to find the right yarn for it. And I manage to guess just the right amount of yarn to get, six balls that I just barely used a bit from the last ball.

(Other posts on the shawl here. I thought there was other one too but I can't find it. Turns out I started the thing three years ago.)

Other long hybernating crafts exposed to the light once more include this cross stitched icon. Unlike the above shawl I don't expect to finish it during this break but I am making some more progress.

In anticipation of my visit to Oregon this summer I found myself in need of a simple project to take with me. The cross stitch being much to cumbersome and attention requisit, and my other knitting projects to large and bulky (rugs) to take on the plane. I, of course, was forced to start a new project. Which you see quickly begining to take form here from a Knitty.com pattern. I do like many of their patterns.

The yarn for this pattern is a lovely blue mohair that my grandma got for me as a birthday present (last year?).

Car Crunch and Florida Vacation

2011-06-21T18:27:00.008-04:00

June 13, the last day of class. On my way to the school in the morning I did this to my poor car. I rear ended the guy in front of me as we both stopped short for a red light.

Thank goodness for insurance, we (parents) only had to cover $500 of the $3499 repair costs. And I (me) have a $115 citation. Ouch.

I thank the Lord though that no one was hurt and that I had friends near by who could pick me up and help get everything worked out. I picked up the car today. I'm very glad to have it back. It looks great but I think that my driving habits will need some work.

Despite the loss of my car I was able to still make it to Florida for the convocation. I drove down with my land lord who was also going. Originally I was planing on rooming with two other ladies (one of whom I know) and a little boy (the son of the other lady). However, when I got to the hotel I was directed to room with another lady who had an empty bed. I would have been happy enough with a place on the floor, or sharing a bed in a room with a bunch of other younglings. But I ended up with a bed to myself and a single room mate. It was very nice.

CEC for Life abortion protest. We where out there at 8:30ish in the morning and it was still warm.

Another lovely factor to the trip is I got to see Jon-Paul again. He is stationed very close by. He had to work in the mornings but was able to join me for the evening servises. The girl with him is the only other girl that came from my church. She was very exited to see Jon as well. You can tell he lives in Florida, look at how brown he is.

Spring Flowers

2011-03-03T18:07:00.002-05:00

Spring flowers at the school.

Throat cultrue. Thats the germs that live in the mouth. Gross hu?

GERMS

2011-03-01T21:44:00.005-05:00

One project we did in lab was to identify 2 unknown bacteria. First we made a streak plate of our culture to try and isolate the bacteria. One of my plates was usable. The other plate was overgrown but made some very cool looking squiggle formations.

Can you see the two different collonies? The rough looking one is the B. sub and the drop like one is the S. epi.

These are the bacteria that I think I have. Bacillis Subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermidis.

S. epi

B. sub

Registration

2011-02-06T16:51:00.003-05:00

Tonight is registration of spring quarter. Some crazy person decided that they should open up the classes at midnight. I suppose that it makes sense in that most people would be home by then, not at work or school. But still, it makes for a long night. I will stay up till midnight to fight with the computer for 45 mins trying to get it to connect because a school of 8000 students are all trying to register at the same time. Ugg... double ugg because I then have to be up by at least 6:30 to leave for school the "next" morning.

Toothless

2011-01-29T15:05:00.004-05:00

This is my new fishie. His name is Toothless. Which is a joke because bettas actually have teeth. They are interesting little boogers. Along with their gills bettas have an organ called a Labyrinth that allows them to actually breath atmospheric O2. This is why they can survive living in such a small bowl (though that is not really healthy for them in the long term).

He is a very curious fish. Silly thing decided he wanted to explore the plant jar, and after putting half of his body in there had to do some considerable wiggling to back out. No worries though, he managed it just fine.

He is looking at the camera head on in this picture. His face is so dark that it is hard to see much detail at this angle.

Snow in GA

2011-01-18T11:38:00.002-05:00

This is what we call a blizzard here in GA. We received about a inch's worth of ice last week-end. Due to the ice and MLK day classes have been closed for the last week and a half for me. I have now idea how we are going to make it up. I will find out tomorrow.

School Up-date

2011-01-03T10:54:00.003-05:00

On my Psych final I made an 89%, to bring a class total of 92.7%. On my chemistry final I made a 97%, to bring a class total of 97.99%. This chemistry class was the last one I needed to apply to the Dental hygiene program at WGTC. I completed the health care providers CPR class before Christmas break, also needed to apply. The only thing left is the PSB-entrance exam. I will take only one class (microbiology) this next (winter) quarter and spend the time that I would use on another class to study for the PSB. I apply for the program April 1st.

Finals

2010-12-08T12:22:00.002-05:00

I just finished talking my chem lab final. And in about 4 1/2 hours I go to take my psych final. Wish me luck.

Pop Tab Prom

2010-12-04T20:09:00.005-05:00

It struck me that I never did post about the magnificent pop tab creation that I made for Naomi's junior prom.

It started out with a trip the the Georgia Coca-Cola museum. After spending the day wandering through the place we ended with a trip through the gift shop. They position the gift shop so that you have to go through it to get out. Anyway, in the shop I spotted a really cool purse that had been made with soda can pop tabs, which had been crochet together. I thought that it was a really cool idea, and a fun way to recycle. Until I saw the price tag. $80! For a 5" by 8" purse! It was cool, but not that cool. So I said "ha, forget this. I can make it my self".

So after months of collecting and recruiting my sibling's high school classmates into collecting pop tabs I began to work out how I would make this purse. The result of that was the birthday present presented to Naomi for her 16th birthday. It was quite well received.

Anyway, I started to think about what else can I make with these pop tabs. They are really quite versatile. Well Naomi's prom was coming up and some how the idea formed; "Why not make a dress out of pop tabs? People make prom outfits out of duct tape, why can't I make one out of pop tabs?"

After actually fiddling with that for a while, realizing that that dress would be very heavy, not sure that I had enough pop tabs and not knowing how to design the dress with enough flexibility so the wearer could sit down, I decided on just doing a top. I was going to do a top with the pop tabs and sew a skirt, but Naomi and Mom ended up finding a really beautiful dress at a great price and bought that for the prom. So my top became a corset that went over the dress.

Of course Naomi's date would have to match. Therefore the pop tab tie also developed. I thought about doing a vest but that would take more time that was quickly running out.

I have had a lot of fun with these pop tab designs. I have in the workings now a belly dancing belt and top made of pop tabs. Someday I may even get around to making that whole pop tab dress. I have entered this photo into my colleges yearly creative magazine. With a little bit of luck it will get published.

November 30, 2010

2010-11-30T16:44:00.004-05:00

For Thanksgiving break I had Wednesday off which is a normal class day for me. So I drove up to Alabama to see some friends there and mainly to see Jon. It is about 3 hours from my place to Chelsea where I was staying. There is a time change in the middle of that does some strange things to the internal clock.

Wednesday afternoon I spent with my friends just hanging out and playing with the kids. That evening after the kiddos went to bed, we watched Robin Hood and I balanced chemical equations.

Thursday morning I drove 2 more hours up to Huntsville to see Jon. Unfortunately it was Thanksgiving day so everything was closed and there was nothing for us to do but sit in the car and talk. Good thing I brought my knitting. Then we went to lunch with some of Jon's crew. After which I headed back to Chelsea, ('cause there was nothing for us to do on post) and had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my hosts.

Friday afternoon I drove up to see Jon again, and hung out in the rec center watching videos and eating pizza.

Saturday morning another friend of mine was able to come over and have lunch with us. I was glad to get a chance to see him, as we where both very busy that week end. Afterwards I headed back home.

I finally got around to getting my flu shot yesterday. It's actually the first one I have ever had. I was on my down the driveway on my way to the CVS for my appointment, and thinking about possibly getting a new color of lipstick that I had been contemplating for a while. I was not sure I wanted to spend $8 on a new color that might end up looking terrible. However, I had was getting a few extra hours at the church sitting for the new bible study so I had a little bit of extra cash.

When it suddenly hit me that "OMG extra hours! This is Monday! I'm supposed to be at the church in 25 minuets!" Which is about how long it takes to get there if you don't run into 5:00pm rush hour traffic. So I called back home, and told them that I would be later than expected, and to please call and tell the pharmacy that I would not make it at 6. I managed to make it only 3 minuets late.

I was thankfully able to do a walk-in and get my immunization on the way back home.

Turkeys, Airzookas, and Grades...Oh My.

2010-11-15T15:51:00.003-05:00

I found a really cool science toy for my Bio teacher. It's called an airzooka. It shoots a blast of air up to 20 feet. It's harmless but attention getting and you don't have to pick up any darts or balls afterwards. I saw that and imagined him nailing the students that fall asleep in class. It just struck me as hilariously funny (now that I'm out of his class), so I gave it to him as an early Christmas gift. Of course I have never fallen asleep in class...no not little angel like me (I have come to the point of totally zoned out though). I'm sure Dr. Bishop has made many diabolical plans to pester his students and co-workers with it. :)

Chem is not half so hard as I thought it would be, and I have made a couple of friends in that class. I have a 96.(?>5) (something bigger than 5). I just found out that a test I thought was going to be on Monday of next week is going to be on Wednesday. Which only gives me one day to cram. Ugg. I hate cramming by the way.

Psychology and I have a love-hate relationship. I think I'm still pulling an over all A (the grading chart is kinda messed up), but I have made several B's on some of my quizes. The big paper is due this sunday. The paper alone is worth 15% of the grade so it's a make it or break it as far as getting an A goes.

I'm hoping to get lots done this weekend so I won't have much to worry about next weekend. I have that Wednesday off, essentially giving me a 4 day weekend. I'm going to drive over to AL to see Jon for Thanksgiving.

Fall Quarter

2010-10-20T20:00:00.002-04:00

So I'm into the 3ed week of fall quarter. I'm taking chemistry and psychology. I just had my first lecture test in chemistry and I will have a lab test next week. I have made several friends in chem and we have formed a weekly study group. Which is nice, because I get to hang out with some people my own age for a bit AND we get some productive stuff done at the same time. :)

In psychology I have a large paper to write. I chose to do it on alcohol addiction. I'm not sure exactly what I will cover in it, I will work with it and see what I get. The hardest part of writing papers for me is the research. I spend so much time looking up and sorting information that I don't get much on paper very fast and it seems like I get nothing done. It is an interesting subject but a frustrating class.

Summer Quarter

2010-09-20T00:27:00.002-04:00

Summer quarter is finally over. I passed both of my classes, Bio 2114 and Soc 1101 with an A. I made 100% on both the finals. With the extra credit offered in Bio I actually finished the class with a 101.95%. I still hold a 4.0 GPA for now.

Fall quarter starts on Sep 29. We have a rather short brake. For fall I will be taking CHM I and PYC 1101(online). I have to drive about an hour twice a week to get to my chem class. It was only offered at the one campus and I have to have it before I can apply to my program. It is the last one I need.

PFC Jonathan P. Landon

2010-09-05T14:12:00.003-04:00

Jon's graduation from Basic Training. I had a test on that day but my teacher said that I could take it late without a penalty (because it was originally planed for earlier) so I was able to make it to SC.

The graduation was a logistical nightmare but it was good to see Jon again. He is now in Huntsville AL for most of his 10 months of EOD training.

Aug 18, 2010

2010-08-18T23:25:00.001-04:00

So... it's just been a really bad week. Really bad. I don't expect it to get better soon.

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-07-14T15:01:00.004-04:00

Today is the 14th of July. Today is my 21st birthday. The Gardners (the family I live with now)took me out to lunch at Tea Fusions (a little tea shop that I adore)and then we walked down to Claries and I picked out a new hat and some earrings, and we had fun looking at the stuff. Apparently I have made a reputation for myself at Tea Fusions as one of the very few who drinks the Russian Caravan tea. The Russian Caraven is a very strong, smoked tea, (it smells like a campfire) they use it mostly for cooking but I like it as just tea.

Blood Types

2010-07-14T14:28:00.006-04:00

I got quite the shock in lab class yesterday. We are working on blood right now and understanding the different types, you know the A, B, O, AB and the Rh (which is what makes it positive or negative). In lab we got the chance to test our own blood, and I was one of the 6 who chose to do so. It turns out that even thought both mom and dad have a positive blood type (O+) I have a negative (O-). I didn't even know that that was possible but Dr. Bishop (my Bio teacher) explained it for us.

Here is how it works; every one has two parts of their chromosomes (genotype) that decide weather the blood will be + or -. The (big) D is dominant and positive; and the (little) d is negative and recessive. Each person has two that make up a genotype. If someone has positive blood they are either DD (homozygous dominant), or Dd (heterozygous dominant), if they have negative blood it's dd (homozygous recessive). For two positive blood typed people to produce a negative blood type child they have to both be Dd. That would give them a 25% chance of having a negative blood typed child.

So both my parents are Dd. The dominant D makes them both positive Rh, but when I got one from each of them the ones I have are both d's, so I am negative.

---D d

D DD Dd

d Dd dd (me)

Red - Mom
Blue-Dad
Yellow-possible positive child types (75%)
Green - possible negative child types. (25%, me)

ABO Type Rh Type How Many Have It

O positive 37.4% 44%
O negative 6.6%

A positive 35.7% 42%
A negative 6.3%

B positive 8.5% 10%
B negative 1.5%

AB positive 3.4% 4%
AB negative .6%

Knitting Help

2010-07-13T11:35:00.005-04:00

This week-end I passed on the art of knitting to another budding knitter. :) However since we don't have regular contact with each other it will be hard to help her further her education in this great art. So here is one of my favorite knitting help sites. It has several over-the-shoulder videos that demonstrate stitches and techniques in both styles of knitting. http://www.knittinghelp.com/

New Car

2010-07-13T10:05:00.005-04:00

My new car. A Hyundai Accent.

The Ford that I was driving had begun to have some potentially very serious problems, and I was uncomfortable with it considering the amount of driving that I do, and I will be doing even more if I get into my program. So we went car shoping and found this beauty. A new 2009 Hyundai Accent, that was on sale because they wanted the '09's out of the way for the '11. It's only the 2ed new car that my parents have ever bought. We went with a new one because of the bumper to bumper warranties and road side assistance, so that I (and mom and dad) would not have to worry about me having to deal with a broken down car by my self.
Mom and Dad financed this car for me. Which means that they bought it, and when I get a decent paying job I will begin to take over the car payments. When I have payed the whole thing off, the title will be transferred to me.

President's List for Spring

2010-07-13T10:00:00.002-04:00

Hey all. I made the President's list again, spring quarter with 13 credits. So I'm still holding down a 4.0 GPA. Yeah! I had to work for it though. http://www.westgatech.edu/Misc/PDList.pdf. I'm on page 8, column 3.

Belly Dancing

2010-05-31T18:13:00.005-04:00

When Mom started her diet she needed to start to do some regular exercise too. One of the moms of a school mate of Jon told us about a belly dancing class that was held not to far from the high school. So Mom and Naomi and I started taking classes together. Naomi eventually found that she had other things that she wanted to do more and stopped going, but Mom and I have been having fun.

On Sunday a group of us performed in a small dance show with several other dancers of all ages and styles. Mom declined to perform, but I did. Fortunately the whole family was able to come and watch, including Gram and Grandad.

How low can you go? This is not easy to hold for pictures.

This is called the Teapot. I used a white veil for the dance, but the only one I had at home to pose with was pink.

I bought the coin belt a the renaissance fair.

President's List

2010-05-10T13:46:00.003-04:00

I made the Presidents List for winter quarter, that is a 4.0 GPA. Granted that was not full time, 8 credits, but it's still cool.

http://www.westgatech.edu/Misc/PDList.pdf

2010 Garden

2010-05-02T15:07:00.006-04:00

So here is my new garden. It's a bucket garden, because everything has to be moved the end of June, to the house I will be staying at. Don't ask me how I'm going to do it 'cause I don't know yet.

Me in my garden. Can you see me? There is mint, lemon balm (which I just found an ant's nest in, have to do somthing about that), eggplant, sweet peppers, watermelon, tomatoes, 2 different kinds of squash, cucumbers, rosemary, dahlias, freesia, a pink lily and gladiolus. I'm not so sure how the larger flowers will do in the pots but we will see.

Charlie in the garden. We were trying to get a picture of him looking at the camera, but for some reason he aparently thought I was about to beat him.
Eggplant.

Some starts that are growing under the porch (I know it's a fragment, my English instructor would be appalled, and look, there's a contraction too. Hahahahhahahahahah. Ok sorry, I'm better now). There are marigolds, some other pink flower thing, acorn squash, basil and lots of radishes. I also have more marigolds, sweet williams, green onions, morning glories, forget-me-nots, more basil, straw flowers, tea roses (from last year) and all the left over white lilies from the church's Easter decorations on top of the porch.

I'm out of the large buckets that I had, so I have been using cans or peanut butter jars and such to make planters. The next time I go to Kroger I will have to see if they have anymore empty icing buckets (the big white ones). I got all the black ones you see from the floral department.

Under the porch is where my garden's fairy godtoad lives. His name is Philip B. Hoppytoad. (B. is for Brown 'cause he is a brown hoppytoad.)

Favorite Crock Pot Recipes

2010-03-12T13:48:00.008-05:00

A friend of mine just got a new crock pot. My family loves the crock pot because its so easy to use and you get great food. So I figured I would post some of my favorite crock pot recipes.

Sweet and Spicy Corned Beef.

3 lb corned beef
1 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup backed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup mustard (I like brown)

In a bowl mix marmalade, mustard and sugar. Rinse off the corned beef and put it in the crock pot with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. Coat the meat with the marmalade mix, cover and cook on medium for about 5-7 hours or so, or until done. Basting occasionally. Slice and serve.

This is my favorite corned beef recipe. I like it in a sandwich, on toasted lite rye, with pepper jack or muster cheese, and a little mayo. So good. Pair it with some cole slaw and you have corned beef and cabbage without boiling anything.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Make up your lasagna sauce and cheese mix however you normally do.
Some things my family likes in it are

Spinach
Tofu (if you freeze/then thaw tofu it will crumble just like ground beef)
Cottage cheese

Be sure to spray the crock pot with Pam or whatever oil spray you use, and your first layer needs to be your sauce mix. This keeps it from burning on the bottom. Don't cook your noodles first, just lay them in dry. A little extra sauce is good as this is the moisture that the noodles cook in.
Cook it on medium 'til the noodles are done. Don't over cook it or the noodles will get gummy.

Cranberry Roast

1 Beef Roast
1 pk. dried onion soup mix
1 can cranberry sauce

Rinse and trim the roast, put it in the pot with just enough water to cover the bottom. Mix up the cranberry sauce with the onion soup mix and coat the roast with it. Cover and cook 6-7 hours or until done. Slice and serve.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding
My mom makes this instead of pumpkin pie for thanks giving. She doubles it.
2 cups/15 oz can pumpkin (we use fresh that we have cooked and frozen from carved pumpkins)
12 oz can evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk baking mix
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp butter, or oil
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp vanilla
whipped cream

Sift together dry ingredients and add to wet, mix all together and pour into crock pot. Cook on low 6-7 hours, or until stiff like a custard.

Crock Pot Pork Roast

Mock Disaster At WGTC

2010-03-09T22:25:00.008-05:00

Wow, so it's March already. Winter quarter will be done on the 16th. My last class is on Tuesday. Then yeah for spring break.

For fall quarter I'm signed up to take SCT 100 (intro to micro-computers) and BIO 2113(anatomy and physiology). BIO is a tricky class, so I hear from my other class mates. It has already given me trouble and I'm not even taking it yet. I was getting mixed answers as to if it had a pre-req of English (which I have not taken yet) or not. My class mates said yes, but the course catalog said no and my adviser said no, and I have the e-mail, so if someone gives me grief about it I'll...make a fuss.

On February the 25th WGTC staged a mock disaster in the welding room for the EMT class to practice with. Several classes got together to pull it off. The EMTs and First Responders class did what they do. My AHS, as a health care class, was asked to help play patients and ER workers. Several other classes and individuals also helped, including kids from the high-school (a couple of whom I knew as class mates of my siblings) who take classes at the college. The Cosmetology class did most of the make up for the patients.

I played one of the patients. My description was "head wound, ashy, diaphoretic(sweaty due to shock) and confused" They really did a great job with the make-up, it all looked very life like. There was a guy next to me who was being made-up to have a spurting leg wound. They put bits of tin foil in with the make-up to look like shrapnel. We changed into clothes that we could rip or burn as if in a real explosion, or in my case pour fake blood all over. (just so that we are clear, this is all acting, no one got hurt).

I got there early, which was a good thing to because it was crazy, checked in with my teacher and went to Cosmetology to get made-up. They used a latex base and make-up to make me look like I had a head wound and powder to make me very pale, then poured about half a bottle of that fake Halloween blood down my face, onto my shirt and into my hair. (a CD is supposedly in the making with pictures. I will try to get one so that I can show you)

Then I headed off to the Welding room where the explosion was to be staged. They had turned over some of the big steel tables in there, and filled to place with smoke from a smoke machine. (the smoke was made from sugar, and was harmless to breath) It was so thick in there sometimes that I couldn't see 6 feet in front of me. We got some coaching on our part to play and staked out a spot to wait for things to get started.

The worst part was that the shirt that I grabbed from the pile was sleeveless and I was laying on a concrete floor. It was quite cold. It was hard to keep a straight face sometimes, especially when one of the patient who had minor cuts and bruises, was really into it. She was screaming about how she needed to go to the hospital but wouldn't move until she got a wheelchair, and about how she needed oxygen, and dang it, her purse was still in the welding room, really freaking out, it was great. Because we knew it was fake it was quite funny. I'm sure EMTs have to deal with that kind of stuff, and thats why we where doing this whole thing.

When everyone was ready the EMTs came in and began to triage everyone. We all played our parts well for the most part. We began to cry out as if in pain or confusion. I was put on a backboard and carried out of the room and lined up in the hallway where a couple of the EMTs came along to "treat" us. Then I was placed on a stretcher to be moved to the ambulance, and taken to the "hospital"(my health classroom). After a bit of confusion because the stretchers they had were old ones used for training and did not lock into the ambulance, a bit of brute force with about 4 or 5 people to lift the whole thing into the ambulance, and a very bumpy ride, I made it to the "hospital". I was then shifted to a bed, treated and sent home.

I then found my clothes, got the worst of the blood off my face and dashed off to my other class that I was already very late for, where I unintentionally succeeded in worrying the girl who sits across from me. I still looked pretty bad. She thought I had been in a car accident until she remembered the mock disaster going on, and asked if that was where I had been.

It was all great fun. Pictures to come later I hope.

Branching Out in Alpaca.

2010-01-25T10:36:00.003-05:00

My Aunt had a coworker who raises alpacas and she knew I love to knit with fun yarns so she most graciously sent me some. She sent a ball of sparkly blue and one of a beautiful green for me to use and a black for me to make a scarf for her.
The pattern I used is called Branching Out by Knitty.com, it's one I have wanted to try for a while. My Aunt loves gardening so I thought that the leaf pattern would be perfect for her.

The yarn ended up going much further than I expected it to, so I was left with extra to use up. So I started making the least yarn intensive projects I knew how, that being mainly flowers. Flowers going well with the leaves and I, continuing to be left with more yarn that I intended after a project, ended up making several.

Flower Pin

Flower Necklace

Headband with Flower, modeled by the ever lovely Yorick.

College Girl

2010-01-06T22:29:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was my first day of college. I have 2 classes twice a week, MAT 1111 (college algebra) and AHS 104 (intro to health care). I had about a half a class of math before the school shut down because of the snow, so I didn't get to my health class. My classes are at night, and in the mornings I babysit a little neighbor girl who's dad has classes the same days but in the mornings.

Church Christmas Party.

2009-12-23T22:02:00.004-05:00

Our church has an adult Christmas party every year. By adult we mean 13ish and up, aka not likely to run around the room and put your hands in all the food.(just in case you wanted to know why Naomi was at an adult party, thats why)
Anyhow, Naomi had picked out some fabric that she wanted made into a dress. So together we picked a pattern and I was able to finish it just in time for her to wear it to the party. I twisted her hair up and lent her my pearls(she has pink pearls but my white ones went better with the blue dress)and my silver shoes. She looked lovely, very elegant. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her at the party but these were taken right after.

This is Naomi tired of my fumbling with the camera trying to get it to take a proper picture. No, it was not posed.

This is me and my party outfit, which I also made.

Here we have Bishop Epps in his new miter presented to him by the Landon family. This miter is for the much loved season of Football. (for the full story see dads blog http://frjonathan1.blogspot.com/2009/12/bishops-special-miter.html and for a video see moms blog http://landonfam.blogspot.com)

Fish

2009-12-22T22:31:00.001-05:00

I have some new digital fish. Feel free to feed them.

College Bound

2009-11-16T20:15:00.002-05:00

In case you didn't already know I have been accepted and am enrolled at West Georgia Technical College, a college not to far from the house. I am starting this January, with 8 credits. We will see how it goes for the first 2 quarters, and wait and see where the family will be moving next summer before I make any solid further plans.

The Morning After

2009-11-03T22:00:00.005-05:00

Curlers are very effective in my heir. Because I decided to sleep in the things (see former post for this one to make much sense) I went to church the next morning looking like a version of Shirley Temple.

Ok... so this picture is not actually the morning after but it's funny anyway. There was hair spray paint at the party and Jon told one of the girls there to have fun with it. She made what hair he has look like a psychedelic rainbow. This is the aftermath of the clean up of that.

Halloween Costumes

2009-11-03T21:18:00.005-05:00

Our church threw a All Saints Eve party, and we were there with hair curlers in. Haha. Well, I had hair curlers in anyway.

Naomi was originally planing to go as little red riding hood, until I found a pair of lime green, fish net stocking on clearance in Wal-mart. I also happened to have just enough lime green fabric to make her a pair of longish shorts and a vest. Don't ask me why I got such a crazy color fabric, but I did and it turned out for the best. So she went as a frog princess. Mom embroidered cat tails on the vest and a frog sitting on a lily pad on the pants.

Naomi went trick-or-treating with a friend and not to the party with us.

Jon-Paul made a cross out of some scrap lumber we had, borrowed an alb and my purple bath robe, put a wreath on his head, and went as Jesus. He painted on a beard with some of my mascara. He doesn't look to bad with a beard, if he does say so himself.

He won the costume contest for the adults. The prize was a 20 gift card for Wal-mart. I of course thought that mine was the best but there is just no competing with Jesus.

Originally I planed on going in my PJ's and calling it a day. Then I got the idea to put my hair up in pink curlers too. A martini happened to work its way in at about that time. Then I searched through my moms make up and found blue eye shadow and the reddest lipstick I could stand. I was transformed into a 50's housewife, or as Fr. Epps put it, a once desperate housewife who had just given up.

Here we have us in the costume contest, with none of us looking at the camera.

Flower Petals or Fish Tails?

2009-11-03T20:47:00.006-05:00

This pattern is called Flower Petal Shawl but the pattern repeat is called Fish Tail Lace. I have seen a lot of flowers in my time and I can't say that any of them looked like a fish tail but there you go. It's really quick to knit up and after the first few rows I didn't even have to look at the pattern. However it does take a gobbzillion pins to block out, and several of my pins bent themselves for the cause.

It's acrylic yarn, and not terribly soft, but it is still pretty. I used a strand of dark blue and a strand of hunter green held together, it gives it a lot of color dimension.

This shawl will be a christmas gift for a friend of mine. I don't think she even knows about my blog which is why I can post this now.

Fetching

2009-10-14T15:58:00.003-04:00

Fetching, a really easy pair of wrist warmers. I made these in about 3 days while I was stuck in bed with some form or other of the flu or some similar bug.
When I first saw the pattern for these I didn't like them, because they were knit in a terrible chartreuse like color that was hard to get over. After a while though they kinda grow on ya.
These pictures make them look blue but they are really a green teal.

My Diploma

2009-10-14T14:53:00.002-04:00

Finally after much fuss and stress, a little bit of hair pulling, and page after page of a mind numbing history book. I am an official high school graduate!

1011

2009-10-11T23:12:00.003-04:00

Yeah yeah...break out the virgin margaritas (sorry guys still under the drinking age) and start the party. My tiny little blog has topped 1000 hits.

Recipe for Pork Roast

2009-10-09T16:32:00.004-04:00

I got this recipe from a friend and was asked for it by another friend. It is very good. So as promised here it is.

Pork Roast

Pork Roast - big enough for your family or however many you are going to feed.
Onion - cut in quarters or finner if you like.
Jalapenos - 1 or 2 depending on how big they are and how much kick you want, I usually use canned (4oz) because they keep 'til I'm ready to use them.
Salt
Pepper
Cumin - about a Tablespoon
Oregano - about a Tablespoon
Garlic - as much or little as you like.

Put the roast in a crock pot and rub it with the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Toss in the onion and jalapenos. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. Cook on low 4-6 hours, until you can shred it. Stir it up with the juices, and let it set for a bit to soak them up. If you used fresh jalapenos you can take them out and set them aside, or chop them up and mix them in with the meat.

Bean and Tomato Stew.
(I guess thats what you would call it. I have always made this recipe to go with the pork)

Canned stewed tomatoes
Canned beans - red, kidney, black, pinto, white, chili...whatever kind you like.
Italian spices - to taste.
Garlic - to taste.

For my family 3 cans of beans and 1 or 2 of tomatoes is plenty. Set the proportions to fit the numbers you are feeding. Throw it in a pot and cook it 'til it's hot.

Serve it together with rice in a pita or tortilla. My preference is to spray the tortillas with Pam and brown a few seconds each side before serving. It takes time, but the taste is worth it.

My New Baby

2009-10-05T15:24:00.003-04:00

Meet my new baby. Some friends of ours had a brand new sewing machine that they didn't use and they somehow found out that I didn't have one of my own. (My serger is my own but the sewing machine I used was my Dads.) So they decided to give it to me, along with a box of threads and pins etc. everything you would need to start sewing.

They also gave me a standing embroidery frame that they had been trying to get rid of for some time. I always thought it would be cool to have one but they are so big, and they don't work well with small projects, so it was not worth the cost to buy one. The only hitch to this one was it was not put together and it had no instructions, only a picture to work from. I took me all of 2 minuets to put together.

This project is one I have been working with off and on for some time. It's slow going due it its complexity, but with a large frame like this I can use both hands so it should come faster. :)

Herbs

2009-09-12T14:05:00.002-04:00

Fresh herbs from my garden. Lemon Thyme, basil, rosemary, and sage. The brown stuff is basil seeds.

Study Partner

2009-09-12T14:01:00.002-04:00

Bruce helping me study by pinning me to the chair and not letting me be distracted by other things.

Counting Sheep

2009-09-12T13:46:00.003-04:00

As a knitter I love most anything to do with fiber. (The kind that you can spin or knit with anyway. Not that I have anything against celery, but thats a different post.) So I was really excited when Grandma let me dig through her fabric stash, and I found a light-weight blue flannel with sheep all over it. What flashed through my mind was how cute a pair of PJ's this would make.

I had enough of the fabric to make a pair of long pants, a top, and a bath robe. The robe is my favorite. It's light enough to cut the chill of the AC but not to heavy that is is unbearable in the Georgia weather.

Thanks Grandma.

Dice Dice Baby

2009-09-12T13:33:00.003-04:00

With a happy 18th birthday to Jon Paul I present The Giant Orange Fuzzy Dice. They are his birthday present from mom and me. Mom bought the supplies and I made the dice. We picked orange so it would match the orange plaid in Sandy. Sandy is the 1977 Volare (FYI).

I made Bruce help because he likes to sit on my chair, and so you could see how big they really are.

Girls in White Dresses

2009-08-24T19:21:00.003-04:00

My latest finished sewing project.

Not Quite Knee High

2009-08-07T20:08:00.007-04:00

I had a bunch of wool sock yarn. Can you guess what I decided to knit with it...? YES..SOCKS! Knee high socks to be exact, for those cold days when your feet are freezing but you don't want to put on shoes, or when you go up to the mountains to play in the snow.
I had two skeins of black (one for each sock) and several random skeins of browns, greens and blue. So I doubled up one of the other colors with a black, to get the random stripes you see below. The black all through gives it that speckled look, instead of clean sharp lines between the colors. This worked until I ran out of black. Then I added about an inch of tan ribbing to the top and called it quits. They come to the widest part of my calf, not quite knee high sock, but close enough.
They are finished but for weaving in the ends, of which I have to many because I didn't think, and joined the colors the wrong way. Oh well.

New Shawl

2009-08-07T19:50:00.006-04:00

So this is my new shawl. I wanted something quick and simple to do, I had a ball of cream colored cotton, so I made a shawl. Its just a basic triangle with little flowers around the edge, something I could do with out a pattern. I kept going until I ran out of yarn. It's just big enough to go over my shoulders. Will I ever actually were it? Who knows.

It took my whole arsonal (and then some) of pins to block it. I don't know what I am going to do when it comes time to block my PNW shawl.

Artfully draped over the chest and dresser. Or maybe not...I tried.

Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeeeeeee!

2009-07-14T21:43:00.003-04:00

Today we got home from a month long vacation to see Grandma and Grandpa in Oregon, very grungy and tired. Today is also my 20th birthday. I am no longer a teenager and, as my Dad puts it so nicely, have entered into my 3rd decade of life. My first present was that I got to have the first shower.
We are going to wait to celebrate 'till Saturday when Dad gets home. We are going to a tea shop in town that I have wanted to check out for some time. It should be fun.

Bowling

2009-06-25T15:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Naomi and the cousins got a bowling lesson while I took pictures.

Naomi

Savannah

Matthew

Are Women Born Like This?

2009-06-05T14:05:00.002-04:00

You don't say??

Lily and Lizard

2009-06-02T21:24:00.003-04:00

We had a little green lizard hanging out on our porch this afternoon. Here he is on the window by the door.

Here he is showing off for the camera.

When I was planting the garden this year we had a pot that I didn't know what it had had growing in it. So I dug it up, and found several rotted flower bulbs. I threw them all away except for one that I thought might still be alive. Turns out it was a pink lily. Very pretty.

Don't Forget to Pack the Knitting

2009-05-05T08:53:00.018-04:00

On my trip to Alabama last month (lots of fun by the way) I arrived at the house I was staying at and got settled in. After dinner, with some down time on my hands, I realised that I had forgotten to pack a most important item. That it was still sitting on my bed, at home, all nice and neat, ready to be taken out to the car. I had forgotten my knitting!

I did have a book with me, but after two days of no yarn I started to see the effects of withdrawal. So I told the Tom-Tom (GPS) to take me to the closest Wal-mart. I then made a bee line (why it is called that I don't know. Have you ever know a bee to fly in a straight line?) back to the craft section. Most of the yarn was acrylic, but you take what you can get. I wondered what I should make. I wanted something simple, that I could do while watching TV or talking with my friends. A scarf was out, I have to many of then already. Also I wanted something that I could do without a color change, I didn't want to carry around multiple colors of yarn. Then I remembered a pattern that I had seen online that I wanted to try. So I grabbed a couple of skeins of Red Heart, in a variegated color called cherry chip, and the longest circular needle that they had.

Back at the house I found and printed out the patten, borrowed a measuring tape, worked a little math and cast on. I cast on a quickly as I could, desperate to feel the yarn flowing through my fingers and the swish-click of the needles. I crammed a bazillion stitches onto a needle that needed to be 6 in' longer. However, the only shaping in the pattern a was a series of decreases, it would get smaller as I worked.

About a 2 weeks later, and with an additional skien and a half into it I realize that this is not looking right. It was taking way to much yarn and not decreasing fast enough. So I double checked the gage. What I thought was 5.25 stretched itself out to be 3.75. That's what I get for not taking the time to do a proper gage swatch. So I frog the whole thing,(for those of you not familiar with knitting lingo, frogging is when you "rippit rippit" out, opposed to tinking, which is to unknit each stitch) take all my measurements again, and start over. Eventually I get this.

Can you guess what it is?
I'll give you three guess'.

No is not a dog bed, Charlie is just the model.

No...try again.

Nope.

It's a vest!

Now I have two extra balls of this yarn. I think that I will make fingerless gloves to go with the vest.

Mini Rose

2009-04-20T16:40:00.004-04:00

Just after Valentine's Day I bought some little tea roses that had been marked down. They were almost bloomed out and one of them about died on me, but I planted it in a larger pot and set it outside and it managed to come back with a vengeance and give me one little rose bloom. Is a beautiful pink-orange color.

Trip to Alabama

2009-04-04T11:27:00.003-04:00

In about an hour I will be headed off, by myself, to Alabama for the week. I will be using the excuse of visiting colleges to visit friends. Haha, yes I actually will visit the schools too. I have 4 on my list to see, and have a whole list of questions to ask. For two of them I have a scheduled tour, and the other two, well, I'm just going to show up and we will see what happens. This will also give the family that I will be living with the chance to see if they really want to put up with me for the next couple of years.

Bible Cover

2009-03-30T17:04:00.004-04:00

I have another finished project. (another perk of not having a job) I recently bought a new bible with the NIV translation on one side of the page and the Message on the other. I like the fresh look of the Message, it gives a different view of the scripture but its not a translation. So I bought a book with both. A $37 book for $15 plus a little for shipping. The dust cover was a little worn and it has a small mark on the bottom, but so what, I can make a cover of my own, and that's just what I did.

Ta Da.

Work V. School

2009-03-28T12:54:00.004-04:00

I have resigned from my job. I like the word resigned better than quit, because it was not that I disliked the job, but because I had other things that needed seeing to. After just over a year of working in the Kroger bakery I decided that I need more time to finish my school work and college searching.
The changing weekly schedule at work made it very difficult for me to get into any steady pattern with school, and with me that means that nothing of very much significance gets done. Just in these last two days I have managed to get done twice as much as I normally do in a week. Let us pray that I can keep it up.
We had just gotten new management also. Not fun, we will leave it at that. So in some ways I'm not sorry to have left. But I will miss working with some of the people there. They even threw me a little going away party, and asked me to keep in touch.
To keep from going completely mad with books and computers, I have agreed to watch some neighbor kids for about 45 minuets one day a week, in the space between when their Dad goes to school and Mom gets home from work. The oldest girl I have been giving some sewing lessons to. There is also a thrift store near by that I can volunteer at, I can set my own hours and still keep up the almighty job experience.
The plan is to be done with my school work by the time we leave for Oregon. I hope to start at college by the fall semester. But there is a lot for me to do from now 'till then. Most especially to decide where to go. I was kind of hoping to have some time to get to know my new siblings by staying, and going to school here as long as I could but I think that it might just be easier if I move out and go to one of the others I was looking at and make more room in the house.

College Count Down

2009-03-14T12:13:00.004-04:00

I have been looking at colleges for some time now, and I have manage to narrow it down to a number I can work with. Here is a rough list in case you want to know. Here is my list even if you don't want to know. So if you happen to not want to know, don't read it. There are still a few possibilities that I am looking at but these are the main ones.

I have had several offers of a place to stay in these and other areas. For which I am very thankful, as I will be very unlikely that I can stay with my immediate family for the whole of my college years, and I would like to avoid dorm life and cost.

My criteria for each college is.
*Room and Board. Preferable for little or no rent or help around the house.
*Is there a CEC church near by?
*Is there family and/or friends near?
*Major. Dental Hygiene or Dental Assistant.

They are not in any particular order.

Pierce College
Lakewood, WA

Has Dental Hygiene. I would stay with my Aunt Trish and family. Have friend in the area.

Wallace State Community College
Hanceville AL.

Seems like a very nice college, and has dental hygiene. There is a family that I can stay with for rent free. They have 3 young ones so I could be a mothers helper as much as my schooling allowed. I also have friends my age in the area that I met at the convocation in FL this summer.
At the end of this week I and my sibs are going to help the family that has offered me a room move into their new house, so I will get a chance to see the house and visit some of the schools while I am there.
The down side is that Wallace is an about an hour and a half drive from where the house is. Wallace does have housing (and none of this co-ed nonsense) so if the commute gets to be to much there are other options that I can look into.

Lawson State Community College
Birmingham AL.

Central Alabama Community College
Childersburg, AL

These two are possibilities that are much closer to the house.
Hopefully I could get my prerequisites and or dental assistant here first before (if) I go to Wallace. There are a couple more in that area that have the same possibility. Again hoping to check some of them out this weekend and see if the credits will transfer.

Griffin Tech
Griffin GA

Gordon College
Barnesville GA

One of these two is where I will most likely go for two or three semesters while the family is still in GA, and before I go elsewhere.

When Georgia Freezes Over.

2009-03-07T18:38:00.006-05:00

Check out a slide show of snow in GA. See if you can guess which ones are from our yard. This was last Sunday, and its supposed to be 70 degrees tomorrow.

The Resume of Jesus Christ

2009-02-25T11:54:00.001-05:00

The Resume of Jesus Christ

Address: Ephesians 1:20
Phone: Romans 10:13
Website: The Bible. Keywords: Christ, Lord, Savior and Jesus

Hello. My name is Jesus -The Christ. Many call me Lord! I've sent you my
resume because I'm seeking the top management position in your heart.
Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume.

Qualifications

* I founded the earth and established the heavens, (See Proverbs 3:19)

* I formed man from the dust of the ground, (See Genesis 2:7)

* I breathed into man the breath of life, (See Genesis 2:7)

* I redeemed man from the curse of the law, (See Galatians 3:13)

* The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes upon your life through
me, (See Galatians 3:14)

Occupational Background

* I've only had one employer, (See Luke 2:49).

* I've never been tardy, absent, disobedient, slothful or disrespectful.

* My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me, (See Matthew 3:15-17)

Skills Work Experiences

* Some of my skills and work experiences include: empowering the poor to
be poor no more, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free,
healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and setting at liberty
them that are bruised, (See Luke 4:18).

* I am a Wonderful Counselor, (See Isaiah 9:6). People who listen to me
shall dwell safely and shall not fear evil, (See Proverbs 1:33).

* Most importantly, I have the authority, ability and power to cleanse
you of your sins, (See I John 1:7-9)

Educational Background

* I encompass the entire breadth and length of knowledge, wisdom and
understanding, (See Proverbs 2:6).

* In me are hid all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, (See
Colossians 2:3).

* My Word is so powerful; it has been described as being a lamp unto
your feet and a lamp unto your path, (See Psalms 119:105).

* I can even tell you all of the secrets of your heart, (See Psalms
44:21).

Major Accomplishments

* I was an active participant in the greatest Summit Meeting of all
times, (See Genesis 1:26).

* I laid down my life so that you may live, (See II Corinthians 5:15).

* I defeated the archenemy of God and mankind and made a show of them
openly, (See Colossians 2:15).

* I've miraculously fed the poor, healed the sick and raised the dead!

* There are many more major accomplishments, too many to mention here.
You can read them on my website, which is located at: www dot - the
BIBLE. You don't need an Internet connection or computer to access my
website.

References

* Believers and followers worldwide will testify to my divine healings,
salvation, deliverance, miracles, restoration and supernatural guidance

In Summation
Now that you've read my resume, I'm confident that I'm the only
candidate uniquely qualified to fill this vital position in your heart.
I will properly direct your paths, (See Proverbs 3:5-6),
and lead you into everlasting life, (See John 6:47). When can I start?
Time is of the essence, (See Hebrews 3:15).
l

Pop Tab Purse

2009-02-17T17:52:00.003-05:00

For a couple of years now I have been collection pop tabs. For no particular reason. You know the kind that come off the top of soda cans. I had no idea what to do with the things until the family went to see the Coke museum in Atlanta. Poking around in the gift shop afterwards I saw several purses made out of these pop tabs. An ingenious idea if you ask me. I had never seen the like before. So I took a look at the price tag, bad idea. They ran from $40 to $70. No way am I going to pay that much for something that I can make myself with a little bit of work. I even had all the tabs I would need.

So I take some of this.

A little bit of fidiling gets me this.

Sew it together and I get that.

A little more and I get a wonderful birthday gift for Naomi. Ta Da.

March for Life. Atlanta

2009-01-25T16:35:00.005-05:00

I could not make it to Washington DC unfortunately for the big March for Life, but with a bit of maneuvering I got one of the other girls I work with to take my shift for me so I could go to the March for Life in Atlanta. Woo Hoo.

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I can't fit all of the pics I took, so here is a link you can follow to see the rest of them if you would like.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58022&l=ce72b&id=549424677

New Years Resolution

2009-01-12T20:42:00.000-05:00

I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!*

Source: A young, unknown African pastor from Zimbabwe, martyred in 1990 for his faith.

Grandads Vest

2008-12-28T14:28:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-28T14:24:00.002-05:00

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

Christmass Eve Sugar Cookie Party

2008-12-28T14:05:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-07T16:55:00.002-05:00

Ok, so its red. What can I say?

Wisdom Teeth

2008-10-28T22:30:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-26T20:41:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-13T19:08:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-30T19:57:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-27T11:12:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-26T16:17:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-26T15:55:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-23T17:17:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-23T16:59:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-05T14:18:00.002-04:00

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

Mosey Continued

2008-08-26T10:25:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-26T10:12:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-23T11:44:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-23T11:16:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-09T21:14:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-07T08:43:00.003-04:00

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

2008-07-23T17:12:00.005-04:00

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

2008-07-18T17:56:00.003-04:00

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

2008-07-14T16:33:00.004-04:00

(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

2008-07-09T21:34:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-09T21:30:00.003-04:00

4th of July shirt

2008-07-09T21:17:00.005-04:00

This is my 4th of July shirt that I made

2008-07-09T20:54:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-09T20:10:00.006-04:00

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

2008-07-04T16:02:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-29T19:52:00.006-04:00

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

2008-06-20T20:12:00.002-04:00

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

Subscriber Box II

2008-06-20T19:54:00.005-04:00

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

2008-06-17T21:27:00.002-04:00

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

Tomatos and Peppers

2008-06-14T22:12:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-14T21:56:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-14T21:27:00.006-04:00

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.