Lent - 2012

It's a few days into the Lenten Season. This year I'm doing a couple of things. I gave up Facebook, and I went back to church.

I stopped really going to church a few years ago. I could go into all the reasons I made that choice, but it all really comes down to one thing - I lost my sense of "home" in the Church. Over the years I've visited other churches, other denominations, and nothing ever seemed to fit. Now, I live about 2 minutes away from a church that I went to briefly in middle school when we wanted to go to mass in Spanish. Over the last couple of weeks I felt that I needed to go. I haven't had that desire in a long time. Last Sunday I went back to church.... It still wasn't the "home" feeling I was looking for, but it felt nice to be in a familiar place with the familiar rhythm of the mass. They even sang my favorite hymn after communion. 

Giving up, or at least letting up, on Facebook is something I've been thinking about for a while. I've become too concerned with it. My fingers automatically search for the app on my phone or type the URL on my browser. I do what everyone else does on it - I see what everyone else is doing. I don't want to be that person. I want to focus on what I'm doing, what the people around me are doing. I was getting to a point where I took it personally when I wasn't included in something or if no one "liked" a post. It was really ridiculous. So, for at least the next 40 ish days I won't be getting on Facebook. I will be focusing on me, my relationship with God, my relationship with my husband, and my relationship with my family and friends.

So far, so good. I'm looking forward to mass in the morning, to hearing the readings and the homily, and to singing the hymns. As for Facebook, I'm okay not getting on it, but it does make me nervous sometimes to think that my absence will go unnoticed or that some who I thought were closer friends will not follow through without such ease of seeing my every move with the click of a button. We'll see. 

I'm very much looking forward to a meaningful Lenten Season!

Scarf Alternatives

So what's the deal with cowls? I never really got them. I thought they were kinda awkward and not nearly as cute as a scarf. But, with the weather being so nice lately (the last week or so excluded) I wanted to find something that still made me feel warm and cozy without being too bulky or hot in 70+ degree weather.

My first venture into this area is a t-shirt necklace. I used a couple of old t-shirts, cut them into long strips which I braided, twisted, and some just left as is. I sewed the ends together and wrapped a sleeve around the ends which I sewed into place. And voila!

please excuse the awkward smile in the picture. thx. :)

Next, I made my first cowl. I made it as a gift for my mother-in-law and forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her. I guess I'll have to make another! What I liked about the cowl once it was all said and done is the simplicity of it. It's still functional for those cool days when a thick/full scarf would be too much while being less fuss. The only thing I dislike about scarves is when they hang down and get caught on something or fall off your shoulder, etc. A cowl eliminates these problems. I still think scarves are cuter overall, but I think I get the cowl now a bit better.

Meet the Newest Quinlan: Ripley!

Saturday morning, Tim and I tool Voltron to Petsmart to get groomed. It just so happened that the Augusta-Richmond County Animal Services was having their weekly adoption drive there. We've been talking about getting another dog for a while now. Voltron has grown up with other dogs, and we both really want him to have someone to play with. So we decided to start looking for a dog that fit us.

In front of the store they had multiple pens filled with super cute lab puppies - all crazy adorable, but would grow into dogs bigger than we were looking for. Inside they had an aisle of dogs in crates. Most of them were medium sized puppies... And then there was Ripley. She is about 2 years old, a beagle mix. She was brought to the shelter as a stray. We walked her around the store and she was very calm and sweet, stayed right by our sides the whole time. She fit all our criteria and was super cute as well! So, I picked out a pink collar and leash, Tim filled out some paper work, and off we went home!

Later, when I brought Voltron home after picking him up from getting all dolled up, the meeting didn't go quite how we had hoped. Both dogs didn't really know what to make of each other. They sniffed each other, followed each other around, and pushed each other out of the way when vying for attention. Today, they were more interactive with each other, but Voltron definitely has "new baby" syndrome. They're starting to get used to each other - how they play, the noises they make in response to different things, etc. Ripley kinda talks in her sleep which really confuses Voltron and Voltron makes a small growling noise when playing tug-of-war which Ripley doesn't understand. But bit by bit they're getting to know each other and getting closer. Here's hoping they'll be running around the yard playing together soon!!!!

That reminds me of my first time...

Knitting, that is. ;)

Recently, one of my co-workers asked me for a favor. Her daughter had received a blarf for Christmas. "What's a blarf???" you may be asking yourself. I was informed that her daughter's friend took up knitting and, for her first project, began making a scarf which turned into a blanket. Blarf. :) Well, after one wash in the washing machine, the blarf partially unraveled. Panicked, my co-worker hid the blarf from her daughter and brought it into work to me. I took it home and began the task of taking it apart before rebuilding it. Taking it apart was actually really cool. It reminded me a lot of my first knitting attempt.

I always loved scarves but I was not a fan of their prices. I would go into a store, find a scarf I liked, and study it. Finally, I decided, "I can do that." So I googled "How to Knit" and gave it a go with two pencils and a pink ribbon I had laying around. I didn't want to invest money into the tools if I wouldn't be able to do it. Once I figured out how to cast on and do the knit stitch, I was ready for the real deal. I went to Michaels the next day and bought a Lion Brand Yarn beginner's knitting kit which included a set of 11 US size needles, a skein of denim colored yarn, and an instruction booklet on how to knit a scarf and a matching hat. First up, the scarf. Boy was that a disaster. There were yo's and k2tog's and dropped stitches everywhere. I don't remember how long it took me to get it together, but that first scarf included garter stitch, purl, and ribbing. I had the basics down (and accidentally a few extras) and I was hooked.

This blarf reminds me of that scarf. Lots of character, lots of memories. I'm not sure where that scarf is. I'm pretty sure I took it apart and used the yarn in my first crochet project, now that I think about it. But I'll never forget the hours, the frustration, and the sense of accomplishment when I knitted 4 rows consecutively without any slip ups. I've often said that knitting is my therapy. And it is. I can spend my time doing something, making something, creating something and at the end I have a tangible item to show for it. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't. But every time I feel good about myself.

We Are Young

So let's set the world on fire! We can burn brighter than the sun!!!

I'm on the plane now on my way back home after spending a few days with my sister in NYC. She just finished her Master's degree in teaching so of course there was lots of celebrating to do! I stayed with her in her apartment. It didn't seem that small, but thinking about it, her entire apartment (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen and living room area) could probably fit into my kitchen and dining room. Btw, Gisela's apartment is above a nail salon and a wine shop. If you know her, you know how fitting that is. Haha.

This was my third trip to the Big Apple, so I wasn't terribly concerned with doing a ton of touristy things. I really wanted to get a feel for what her life is like there- why she loves it there so much. Of course there were a few tourist excursions! :)

I love snow. I love watching it, playing in it, walking through it to hear the crunching sound, etc. It's probably due to my having lived in very warm climates all my life so it's definitely still a novelty to me. On my first night there it snowed, so off to Central Park we went the next day! We did something we've both wanted to do for many many years: made snow angels in Central Park!




















Our parents came up a day after I did. We spent another day playing in the snow, did some shopping, and watched a show with them. We watched Chicago... It was great! There was a good handful of Latin performers in the show, which was pretty cool for us. There were even quite a few moments where Spalnglish was incorporated into the dialogue.







Other highlights of the trip include having sushi delivered to the apartment, amazing cannolis around the corner from her apartment, brunch at the Washington Square Diner, walking around NYU, and being with my sister the moment all her grades were cleared and she officially became Master Sela. We had so much fun, but I am glad to be back home!

















































This last pic is of my mom pegging me with a snowball. She fights dirty. ;)

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Our First Married Christmas

We truly enjoyed out first Christmas season as a married couple. It was so fun to pick out our tree and other decorations, as well as to start our own traditions. We are lucky enough to live near both our families, which is wonderful; however, it did make it a bit difficult to try and figure out how to still do everything we normally do while starting our own traditions and making time for ourselves as our own family. We decided we would do a big breakfast on Christmas morning. Both our families celebrate later in the day, but I've always been up and early Christmas morning! Our meal included oven baked French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, Belgian waffles, and pumpkin bread. We were happy to have our first house guests to share it with - Colleen and Drew stayed with us the weekend!






Honestly, the best part of the whole season was getting to celebrate it together... Waking up together, opening presents together, driving around together instead of meeting up at different places, and going to bed together just made everything that much more special. Voltron loved all the fuss and having visitors there... He's a big fan of more people to play with!






We spent a quiet New Year's Eve together. We got dressed up, went out to dinner, watched a movie on the couch, and rang in 2012 sipping sparkling cranberry juice from our champagne flutes from the wedding. It was kinda perfect!

Very much looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us!

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Baby Booties

I made my first pair of baby booties! I found the pattern on lionbrand.com. It's a free pattern called Lavish Booties and really easy to work! I made one bootie in a few hours after work and the other the next night after work. It was really fun and a good project to do in between larger ones. I really liked how easy it was, how cute it turned out, and how different they were from the traditional baby booties. I definitely look forward to trying out more patterns! I really wanted to find one for a loom knitter, but couldn't find a free one that I liked. Maybe I'll get creative and see if I can make one myself..? :)

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