Thursday, March 29, 2007

Spring Snow :)



This is what my driveway and front yard looked like this morning. Hard to believe last night I was cheering the Wild Wings softball team to at 21 to 6 victory just last night! Spring snows are wet and heavy - perfect for playing outside - execpt for the fact that I'm done with snow, I was gardening two nights ago, and Chris and I are headed to OK tonight after work. Blizzards and tornados do not make for good road-trip weather...

Oh well, we've decided to continue with our plan, but drive slower and stop along the way if needed :). I've got my books ready for the 12 hour drive, and have a few knitting projects to work on along the way... this is the first one I'd like to tackle. I have the perfect yarn in mind for it, and although I don't have size 35 needles (who does??? they're HUGE!!!) I've decided to do size 17 needles instead...I think it will still be lovely.

***DIFFICULTY***

"The truth is that our finest moments are likely to occur when we are feeling deeply
uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our
discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different
ways or truer answers."

- M. Scott Peck


Today, look at an area of your life in which you are feeling unhappy or unfulfilled.
What could you do, beginning today, to improve the situation?

Monday, March 26, 2007

whew!

Wow, the past two weeks have been consumed by Daffodil Days. For those of you who haven't heard about DD - it's a major fundraising campaign for the non-profit I work for. I took over running this campaign this year, and didn't realize what I go myself into :) - it was crazy, and throughout I kept telling myself, "not doing this next year...no way, no how". Now that it's over, I look back fondly over the experience (except the part about getting really sick right in the middle of it and not being able to take a sick-day - that part still sucks). Daffodil Days is an incredibly fun event, and this year, we added a new component to it; the First Annual Daffodil Days Tea Party. The first of it's kind in the United States and an event that took 5 major companies partnering together, took place yesterday and was a complete and utter success. We can only hope that it continues to grow each year, and I am so proud to have been a part of the first one. A year of planning really made the difference in keeping this event classy... here are a few photos from the day:















Right after the Tea I knew I needed a break - get outside, do some mountain biking or something! So, luckily I got the chance to head up hiking in Left Hand Canyon, a wonderful place just outside of Boulder that I was introduced to last summer. It is only about 30 minutes from my house, which is wonderful - and it's so incredibly beautiful and secluded. The canopy of trees ensured that we would still have plently of snow to tromp around on, even though it was a gorgeous 70degrees down the mountain :). Of course, my arthritis kicked in and reminded me that the song is true ... I'm feeling much better after coming home and relaxing. Caught the last hour of Planet Earth, and was able to tape the first two hours. I can't wait to watch those. What an incredible documentary. Check it out on the Discovery Channel if you get a chance...







Monday, March 12, 2007

another bag

What a beautiful weekend we had here in Colorado...after months of snow on the ground (I swear, the snow from the first blizzard in December just melted) we finally had a wonderfully warm day - shorts, no shoes and a nap in the park watching the guys practice softball. Here's a nice action shot! It was such a nice day on Sunday - grilling out, playing in the park - what a great way to get my fill of Vitamin D! I can't wait till it warms up even more. The longer days, warm nights, grilling out, playing in the park, mountain biking, hiking, swimming - I could go on and on. :) - For now, I'll settle for the beautiful 70 degree weather we're having right now. Can't beat it.



I also spent Saturday evening sewing. I wanted to make something other than the tote, and I wasn't ready to tackle the diaper bag for my sis, so I chose something in between. I made a hobo bag from some incredible fabric I found at a local thrift store, and I looooooove it! It's got such a "Burberry/British feel" to me, and since I love brown, this works out well. I've already taken it bowling with me on Sunday, and matched my outfit around it for work today. I've already discovered some changes I want to make on my next one, but will definitely be making more of this bag - soooo easy, quick - love it! I can take pics of the next one I make and post a tutorial on here if anyone is interested. I'm also going to make a lined, zippered pouch for this in the same fabric since I still have tons left over. What do you think?



Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Sewing

So, I absolutely love crafts. I've taken to calling myself a "regular 50's housewife" simply because I love to sew, knit, bake and cook so much. I absolutely adore it. My mom got me a sewing machine for the holidays, and though I haven't had the time to go completely crazy sewing, I'm truly enjoying myself and getting better each time.

My favorite bag is one I recently made. It's a reversable tote with two pockets on the inside and two on the outside. My next venture is a lovely tote for my sis, and then a diaper bag for my other sis... That task seems a bit daunting at the moment so I think I'll work on the tote before taking that one on.

I use Craftster for inspiration. The posters on there are so incredible - it's like a festival of craftiness every day! That's actually where I got the inspiration for the reversable tote bag above, and where I got all the ideas I have for the diaper bag - I still can't believe I'm going to try elastic pockets and a zip-top bag :) - luck me that my sis is incredible and will most likely tell me she loves it even though it might be hideous!

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Heroes

I love love love this show. I look forward to Mondays now, which seems a bit weird, but I race home from work, to race to the gym just so I can be home, settled on the couch with a salad right when it starts :)...and so it began last night. Who doesn't love how this show is moving right along? wow. I never got into Lost, or 24 - just not my style, but I caught a snippet of Heroes about the second or thrid episode in "Save the Cheerleader...save the world". Wow. Good stuff right there. Can't wait for April 23rd...at least while it's off I will have that extra hour to study for the GRE.

GRE. Haven't really started studying yet...though I've thought about studying, and listened to some math problems. I'm not nearly as daft at math as I had once assumed I was. Maybe as you get older you don't get wiser, you are just open to more ideas. Maybe it's just that I've got a good teacher (see post below about the pursuit of happiness) who is incredibly patient with me :).

I recently saw "An Inconvenient Truth" which changed my outlook on everything. I mean, I joined Peace Corps cause I wanted to change the world. Even though I've since learned that's not really going to be as plausible as I had once hoped, I would still like there to be something left of this world for my future children... wow - something's gotta change here. I'm so glad that this won the Oscar. Perhaps it inspired others like me who hadn't yet seen it to go rent it. Make a difference.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

The pursuit of happiness

This has been all over the news lately, from the incredible movie (which I loved by the way) to a whole series on the Today show... it's got me thinking about my personal pursuit of happiness and how it's led me to where I am today.

My pursuit of happiness began 8 months ago when I separated from my spouse. I was very unhappy, and finally realized that getting out of that relationship was going to be the start of looking out for my own best interest. Since then I've learned to love my job again(!), found new friends, discovered that I am capable and worthy of love, and decided to go back to school, something I've wanted to do for a long time but kept putting off.

My pursuit of happiness has led me to the most incredible person I've ever met. Someone who pushes me to be a better person, who inspires me, who believes in me and who loves me wholeheartedly. That's just an incredible feeling. This is someone that has taught me so much about myself that I didn't even know was inside of me. I've taken on mountain biking, skiing (again) and many many other things.

It's been a great journey so far, and the best part is that it's only the beginning. Each day brings something new and fresh. I encourage everyone out there to think about thier own pursuit of happyness (I love that way that spelling looks :)) and what, if anything, is standing in the way.