Yarn Along

Yeah, I haven't done this in a while. What with summer and warm weather, I haven't really felt like knitting. But now I've gotten back to it, thanks to the reminder of the fact that I've still got dozens of projects to complete before Christmas, not to mention the fact that I'm going to start up my Etsy shop in August (hopefully!)

So here is what I've been working on lately: Fingerless gloves!

I've almost finished the second fingerless glove - or hand warmer, or whatever you want to call it. I just love how they fit - it's snug enough to fit my younger sister perfectly, but it also fits me perfectly, and my mom perfectly! I'm planning on selling this pair.

I just love the bold colors. These were knit with a self-striping yarn (thank goodness - I can't imagine all the ends I'd have to weave in by the time they were finished! The horror!) and they are so soft, but not too soft and wintery, perfect for any time of the year, really. But the colors make me think of fall the most.

                                        Fits like a glove! ;) (ignore the weird look on my face. :P)

Lately I've been reading, well, a bunch of different things, really. I started re-reading The Hobbit, what with the movie coming in December and all, and I want to actually make it through that plus the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The last time I tried, I only made it through The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, and made it maybe an eighth of the way through Two Towers, if that (I don't remember) before I got busy and stopped reading it and never picked it up. And that was two years ago! So I figure it's about time I try again. :)

Thanks to Ginny over at Small Things for hosting the Yarn-Along!

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day - also known as the Fourth of July!

Well, today was a pretty full day. We had friends over for the afternoon, so the morning was spent in preparing for them - cleaning, mainly, and my dad set my sister and I to work filling up water balloons. Nearly 150 in all, but when our friends came the balloons were gone in five minutes!

So, in the afternoon we had a lunch of grilled pork chops, chicken, watermelon, chips, and other such summer-y picnic type foods.

My mom, doing her 3 1/2-years-old goddaughter's hair in a ponytail and "hair pretty."

She likes it! Very festive for the fourth of July.

(Sorry it's blurry!) The kids practicing for their "circus".

Later in the evening, we all drove to a park to go see the fireworks. While we were waiting the kids played on the playground and the adults chatted.

My godsister seemed to think that the phrase "If she gets a juice box she'll have to go to the bathroom" meant that if she went to the bathroom, she could get a juice box. So as she begged anyone to take her to the bathroom so she could get a juice box, my mom just HAD to take pictures!

"Pleeeeeeease?"

The lucky person who ended up taking her (in the end we got her distracted enough from juice boxes to go to the playground and not have to go to the porta-potties yet) was me. :P

When it got darker, some other friends of ours joined us for the fireworks.

When it got dark enough, the fireworks started! I, equipped with my camera and the "fireworks" setting on it, began to take pictures.

After the fireworks, we headed home. There was lightning outside that we could see in the distance, and as I looked out the window I watched God's "fireworks"!

I hope everyone has had a blessed, wonderful Independence Day!

Colorado Reunion

 WARNING: BIG LONG POST WITH A LARGE PHOTO DUMP. PROCEED ONLY IF YOU HAVE TIME ON YOUR HANDS AND DON'T NEED TO LEAVE WITHIN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES.


Well, we're back from the Colorado family reunion! And this is my fourth post of this month! YES!

Anyways, we left last Wednesday after my dad came home from work, though we were an hour or two later than we had wanted to be. We just got supper at McDonalds (we pretty much lived on McDonalds while driving to and from Colorado :P) and drove for a few hours and then we found a hotel to stay at for the night.

The next morning we had breakfast and we drove all day, getting to my aunt and uncle's house at about 9 PM, I believe.... it was SUCH a relief to get out of the truck, which wasn't all that spacious for a family of five. I wasn't feeling the best, either, because if I do much of anything while driving (knitting, reading, playing video games, stuff like that) I start feeling... icky. Not totally sick or anything, just kind of blehhh. Definitely a relief to stop driving!

Friday was a day of relaxation and recuperation from all the driving. We hung out around the house all day watching TV and (in my sister's and my case) sucking on coffee-flavored caramels. YUMMY. We also went through things that my aunt was giving us (actually, to be perfectly honest, it was mostly my dad) because she and my uncle are considering moving and they want to get rid of a bunch of stuff. I got a bedroom set which consists of a queen-sized bed with a headboard, a dresser, and one of those things that's like a low dresser/desk and it has a large mirror on it? I forget what it's called. :P I also got a typewriter!! It's awesome and black and I love it. My dad teases me that although I have a laptop and we have the TV and stuff like that, I like an old-fashioned typewriter. But I love it! It's so... 1930's. We had just seen Captain America a week or two before Father's Day so I am now very hung up on anything from that time period. :D (We also went and saw The Avengers on Father's Day as a present from my dad to the rest of us, which was amazing, but that's off-topic.)

 In the evening my mom, aunt, sister and I went to a graduation party that my aunt had said she'd go to. There were a few relatives there who would be at the reunion the next day. It was pretty interesting.


On Saturday was the reunion. In the morning, though, my dad rented a U-Haul trailer and loaded mostly everything into it, all the big stuff anyway. At around noon or a little before, we drove to the reunion, which was at a reservoir. As we were driving up, all we could see was dry grass and we were all like "Where is the beach? The water?! Are we in the right place?" but we kept driving and then we saw the water and it was amazing - so huge, we wondered how on earth we could miss it! The land rose just right, I guess... but it was really strange.

Well, that's most of what I have to say for now, so I will let these next few pictures do some explaining. A picture's worth a thousand words, after all.

My sister, not wanting to get her picture taken. :P

As I was out in the water, I noticed a family of geese swimming by!

So adorable!

A few of the ladies were giving girls face paintings and paint tattoos - the kit included glitter, which involved getting glue put on your face. :P

The end result was very pretty, though!

One of the little girls got this gorgeous butterfly on her arm. :)

My mom got a pretty nasty sunburn on the back of her neck. This was only the beginning of it - it got worse!

My older brother and, I think my dad's cousin? I don't remember how she's related to us... anyways, this is them building a sand castle.

On Sunday we went to church, at this gorgeous church near Denver. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures.  That was another day of relaxation and recuperation.

The next day came the good-byes...

           

We drove all that day. We took a route that would bring us to the Badlands where we drove around for a few hours the next day, but we didn't spend as much time at the Badlands as we usually do. We were in a hurry to get home. :P

Prairie dogs! ^_^

And, well, that was our trip!

I don't think I'll add a random photo at the end. You've gotten enough photos for one post. :P

Monday Musings - June 18th, 2012

Right now... I am at the computer. Pretty obvious, huh? Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. :P

This weekend was... Great! On Friday we drove three hours (actually, we carpooled with some friends) to Priest Ordinations. We always just call it Ordinations. Anyways, that was really cool. And yesterday we had a bake sale at our church to raise money for our church theater group play "Arsenic and Old Lace". I brought some things for after second mass, and I was the only one who had brought food for after second mass! So it was gone in a hurry. *rolls eyes* :P

Some plans for this week... Well, later this week my family is going to drive down to Colorado for a family reunion on my dad's side! We've never done anything like that before, so it'll definitely be interesting. I'm going to see a bunch of relatives that I barely ever see, and meet a bunch of relatives that I've never really met before. I think it'll be pretty exciting! We're staying at my aunt's house, and it'll be nice to see her and my uncle and my Grandpa again.

I am grateful for... My Catholic faith. I can't even imagine where I would be right now if our family wasn't Catholic! I've made so many good friends through the Catholic homeschool group and through church who I can't imagine life without, that I never would have met if we weren't Catholic. I've gotten to experience things like barn dances and the ordinations of priests and volunteer for quite a few years at the Catholic Vacation Bible School held at a friend's barn, which is always loads of fun. Now I know that I've got to work on showing I'm grateful, by trying to live up to my faith, increasing my spiritual life (I don't pray as much as I should or make as many sacrifices I know I could!) and learn to defend my faith.

Some prayer intentions for this week... For Nadja, who hosts Monday Musings at her blog (link at the bottom). Her father just died recently and I'm sure she could use all the prayers she could get.

Also, that we have a safe drive to and from Colorado and have a good time with my aunt and Grandpa and all my other relatives at the reunion. :)

Something that always makes me smile... This picture. :D

Thanks to Nadja at Patch O' Dirt Farm for hosting!

A post filled with water.

Hello, all! I am determined to get more than three blog posts in for this month... let's see if I actually do it!

So, yesterday we went to the lake for the day, at a cabin that my aunt and uncle are renting. It was fun spending the day there with my cousins, but it ended all too soon! We had fun batting a volleyball around, getting in the water, making sand castles on the beach, eating delicious food, and taking lots of pictures!

   
Seeing the sunlight shimmer and sparkle in the water and seeing the effect in my camera was really cool, so I tried to capture it. I wasn't able to quite get the effect that I saw on the camera screen (how is it that you can see it on the screen, and then take the picture and it looks totally different? :P) but I still think it looks pretty.

                        Like stars dancing on the water, or little fireflies or faeries or.... something.











I don't get to see these relatives very often. They live a few hours away from us. But we usually manage to visit them at the lake for a day in the summer, and we see them at Thanksgiving and such. It's always fun to be with them!

My mother will quite possibly punish me for posting these pictures. :P But her face at getting into the water was priceless!

I assure you, though, that I was making faces very similar to hers. They just weren't caught on camera. ;)

                                               And that was our day at the lake!

Modest Monday - the first one!

This is something that was started by a girl whose blog I read started, and I think it's a great idea! Here's her words about why she started this idea about posting a different modest outfit each week:

                                  "I believe you don't have to sacrifice fashion for purity.

Modesty does not = frumpy.

These are outfits I really, truly wear in my day-to-day life. I'm a girl determined to live a life of purity, modesty, and plenty of style.

So many girls feel the need to wear tight, clinging clothes to make a statement. After all...they have to be bold.

Be sexy.

Be different.

That's what the world tells them.

But what is different? Is it looking like every other girl or woman out there who happens to have the same idea? Are skinny jeans or wearing only a tank top for a shirt actually original?

Hardly.

I said last week that modesty is liberating - and this is true! When you are properly covered, you don't have to worry about shirts riding up, jeans/skirts sliding down, or the neck of your top gaping.

When modesty is your first priority, your outfit becomes something you can move with ease and comfort in. And when you're comfortable, your style shines through. You're not preoccupied with making sure your clothes don't start misbehaving. You can dress with as much chicness, cuteness...or attitude as you want."

So, here's the outfit that I wore today.

              (Please ignore the bleh which is my outfit-photogenicness. Emphasis on the BLEH. :P)

I've had this skirt for a few years and I didn't wear it much. The shirt (which is pink, in case your screen is really bright like mine and it makes the shirt look mostly white, but it's pink) I got for Easter a few years ago and wore it a few times, and then we moved and the shirt was packed away and somehow the next time I found it part of one sleeve was stained green. O.o So I didn't wear it much. But then I got the black shrug really cheap from Savers, our local "Thrift Department Store", and discovered this outfit! :D The shrug covers the sleeve nicely, and makes sure there isn't too much pink, and the pink of the shirt compliments the bits of pink in the skirt. It's colorful and really fun to wear!

I look silly here. But this is the next best picture I had of the outfit. :P

My usual style is pretty sophisticated, I think. I don't like looking really sloppy, and I like looking pretty and feminine. Shrugs and scarves are my favorite accessories to wear!

The hardest part about being modest for me is probably finding things that aren't too low in the neckline or too short. I'm constantly going to the stores, seeing something and exclaiming "Oh, that is SO cute! But it's too low..." or "Ohmygosh, I LOVE that!.... if only it were longer." I need to learn how to sew so I can make my own clothes. :P

I was too late to actually link up, but I wanted to do this, so I'm just going to post the link to Raewyn's blog post today. :)

My Spare Oom: Modest Monday Week One

And now, my traditional random picture. :D

One of our new kittens we got last Saturday (June 1st)! Since they're still so small but we're going to keep them outdoor cats, we set up a playpen to keep them in so they wouldn't wander away and get caught by a wandering critter or anything. The kitty looks like he's looking out of a jail cell or something! :P

And so you can see both of the kittens, here's a bonus picture. :)

The one one the left (who was looking out of the jail cell :P) is Ferb, and the one on the right is Phineas. Phineas and Ferb! :D Named after the two main characters of our family's favorite cartoon. Since these two kittens are both 7-week-old brothers, we felt we had to name them as a brother duo. :)

A Giveaway and other random things that may pop into my head.

Hello all!

Okay, so first of all I guess I'll post about the giveaway. Nooo, it's not mine!

The eShakti {Spring/Summer Makeover} Giveaway is being hosted by Michaela over at Like Pearls slipping off a String (though the url is "The Last Rose of Summer". The link is to the giveaway post). CLICK THE LINK! You won't regret it (I hope)!

eShakti is an online clothing store with a wide variety of clothes, from dresses (which I think are the most popular, at least in this giveaway) to jewelry. The best part is, the clothing can be adjusted to fit modesty preferences! If you don't want such a low neckline, or want that dress to be a little longer, you can customize it. Some items have more limitations than others, but for the most part you're able to change quite a bit of it while still getting the same clothing item! I especially love this because I know whenever I'm looking at something in a store, I usually say "Oh, that is so cute! Too bad the neckline's too low" or "Omigosh I LOVE this dress!.....if it were just a little longer." :P So I fell in love with these clothes pretty quickly. ;) eShakti has quite a few pieces to choose from to suit a variety of tastes.

The amazingly lucky winner of the giveaway will win ANYTHING on the site, with any customizations they so choose, FREE!!! Which is super duper awesome! I mean, the prices aren't bad compared to a lot of the same type items anywhere else, but who doesn't love to get something for free? ;)

The giveaway is open until May 31st. I know, I'm sorry I'm not giving any of you readers much time to enter. Sorry 'bout that. But at the very least, you will see the site and hopefully fall in love with a few of their items! :D Mandatory for entry is liking eShakti on Facebook and on Pinterest. Sorry for anybody who doesn't have either of those... but if you don't have either of those, you should still check out the site. :)

Now that that's over with....

Well, things have been pretty busy lately around here. End-of-the-band-year Spring Band Concert...

                                                             A fellow flutist and I after the band concert.


The band picnic the day afterwards...

                                   My mom talking about my epic flute skills. ;) (No seriously, she was!)

Barn dances...

My cousin's graduation party...

                                         I had to get proof that my dad did, indeed, go to the party. ;)


A friend's graduation party...

                          Me playing volleyball. I don't know why I play it at these things. I'm lousy at it. :P


And Memorial Day!

                                          Us visiting and praying by my younger brother's grave.
                                                 We still need to get a headstone...

                                                                Sanjay's grave, closer up.

Later that afternoon, we had friends over and had hot dogs and pork loin and chips and potato salad and a bunch of yummy foods. :)

And, well, I guess that kind of sums up what I've been up to these past few weeks!

Besides school and chores, of course. :P