Happy St Lucia Day

First of all, Happy St Lucia Day. This is the first year I have done anything, and it was pretty fun. I have gotten a lot of questions, but it is basically a Christian Saint day, celebrated since Lucia strove to bring light, and food to people in the dark ages. Traditionally, Scandinavians celebrate. You wake up early, and make sweet buns, and coffee, and the eldest daughter serves everyone. So, I just thought it would be fun to wake up and make cinnamon rolls today, and take them to my 8am class. The boys all thought they were good, so I guess it was worth it. Its a fun holiday with lots of tradition, so I would like to start celebrating it. Next year maybe I will bake something from scratch instead of rolls from a can. LOL.

Here is a hat I made for my friend Charlie for Christmas. He is leaving to join the Navy soon, so I wanted this done before he left. Its made out of some leftovers I had from other projects, but I really like how the colors matched. That and hats are so much fun, and really easy to make.

Living in the Snowglobe

Today was one of those gorgeous days, where it snowed the whole time. Not like blizzard, white out snow. Just a real gentle fluffy snow, with the sun shining the whole time. Heather and I alway used to laugh, and say that this is what living in a snowglobe feels like. Its just times like this that make me love winter.

This is what I did last night. I am pretty proud of myself for being so close to actually being ready for Christmas on time! I had a lot of fun wrapping presents and listening to Christmas music, and then putting them under my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

I can see the finish line....

I managed to finish one of my Christmas present last night, and reach a milestone on another.
I finished my dad's Christmas scarf. He has been dropping hints that he wanted a Western scarf ever since I started knitting. I finally finished it last night, which is nice since his was the most time-consuming gift.

Then I finished the outside of my brother's hat. I just have to do the lining and it will be done.


So, today I am actually going to try and study.

Happy Hanukah!

Happy Hanukah everyone! Heather got her present and already opened it, so here is her Menorah Pillow I made.

I have been pretty busy with school and studying and whatnot, but I have managed to work on Nick's present lately. He is getting this Transformers hat:

The opposite side has the evil transformers symbol, and it will have a lining too. I think it should be cool.

GRE results!

Well, I took my test today. It went really well. I was pretty stressed out beforehand. I think I stalled my car 4 times on the way to the testing center. I got two good essay topics and was able to find a lot to write about on those. The Verbal and Quantitative parts were stressful, and I didn't think I did very well. But I got my multiple choice results back instantly (the essays will get scored later) and I got a 580 on the Verbal, and a 730 on the Quantitative (both out of 800) so that gave me a 1310 overall! Which is much better than I was expecting. Average on the test is about 1100, and I was really hoping for a 1200. But what I got was so much better!
Thanks everyone for all your prayers and support these past few weeks!

T minus 4 days

Well, I officially applied to grad school today. I sent in my application online, paid the $35 fee, and gave the paperwork to the registrar's to have my transcripts sent. I asked Al, Judy and Bill Ruhf to write my letters of recommendation. I figured that was a good spread; Al is my boss at admissions, Judy is my acamdemic advisor, and Bill was my main supervisor at the lab this summer. Bill seemed kinda excited to write me a letter, so I guess thats a good sign. I just need to ace my test this Saturday, and then hopefully everything else works out. At this point everything is out of my hands except for the test, so I am really focusing on that. I just pray that everything works out and this is what I am supposed to be doing.

In a lighter note, I am getting me hair cut next week! I am super excited. I am getting 10 inches cut off. I think I found a style that I like, but we will see what Tony thinks, and how much length I have after the 10 inches is off!

I am secluding myself in my room...

So nothing really interesting has happened this week. I had two tests, in Biochemistry and Criminalistics. I did ok on the Biochem one, and think I did well on the Criminalistics one. I have two more tests next week in school, another Criminalistics and a American Government one. Then next Saturday is the big one, my GRE test. I am scared, really scared. I need to do really well on this exam, or I don't get to go to graduate school. I am really scared to take it, and scared to apply to school, because I am afraid of being rejected. Forensic programs are so exclusive, and I am not really a top canidate. Also, today I just found out that someone I know from here is applying to the same school. So I don't know how many people they are going to be willing to take, especially from the same school. All I know is if he gets picked over me, I will be really disappointed, especially since I was the one who pointed this school out to him and Judy.
So, basically I am going to sit in my room this weekend and study for my GRE, and get my application stuff around.

Baby Blanket

Finished this today. It is for my friend Amanda who will be having a baby next month. We are having a baby shower for her Wednesday, so I thought I would make this for her. It has a hole for a carseat or stroller strap, to keep the blanket in with the baby. This is probably my favorite thing to crochet.

Happy Halloween! (lots of pictures)

First of all I would like to announce:

The sweater is finally done! Whew. I am very happy. I love the buttons I got for it; little tractors for my little tractor obsessed brother. Could there be anything more appropriate? I don't think so.

And you thought just little kids celebrated Halloween. I am proud to say that all three of these costumes are hand made or assembled. No pre made costumes for us. In case you don't know, the pirate is Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean, then Leonidas for 300 (the Spartan movie), then I am Snow White. Though you could figure out that last one I am sure. ;-)

And finally becaues I am silly; this is Charlie (my stuffed turtle's) Halloween costume:

He is Michalangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think I may have too much time on my hands. Probably should be studying more.

Happy Halloween!

I can see the finish line....

No pictures tonight, but there will be finished product pictures tomorrow! I have just one sleeve to finish, then sewing to do, and they sweater is done done done! Whew, finally. Then I need to crochet a blanket for a baby shower, and then it is the infamous Christmas presents.
In non-knitting updates: Last night was a dress rehearsal of sorts for Halloween. We dressed up to go to the Hockey game, and it was fun. I am Snow White, for obvious reasons. I thought it turned out pretty good, and a few male friends of mine agreed. Some random girl thought I was Minnie Mouse, and I kinda just stared at her like she was retarded. I had an apple in my hand the whole night and everything, how is that Minnie Mouse? Whatever.
Today was homework, and knitting. So pretty uneventful. But now I am exhausted, so its bedtime!

Pictures as Promised.

Here are the pictures of Heath's Birthday sweater. I am currently working on the first sleeve. I have to finish this and the second one, and then just sew everything together. I am so excited because I found the cutest buttons for this sweater. They are little green John Deere tractors, and little green matching hearts. Just perfect for my little tractor baby.

Baby sweater alert

I am so close to being done with Heath's sweater. Both the fronts and the back is done. So I need to make the sleeves, and sew everything up, and I will be able to send it out. I promise I will post pictures of my progress tomorrow.
Also, I am now on Ravelry! It is a great site, sort of a Facebook for knitters. It lets you organize your projects, yarn stash, as well as meet people who are working on the same projects as you are! It pretty darn awesome.

In a more morose note. I am going to be going to the hospital and getting some blood drawn, sometime soon. I have been just exhausted lately, even with a good nights sleep. I don't think a day has gone by where I didn't take a nap when my classes were done. I am also having hot/cold spells. I am thinking its my thyroid acting up again. So my doctor asked me to send him some blood work to make sure its that, or something else. I really hope that is not the problem, but if it is I need to begin the process to get it under control, because getting a good balance of the medication can take months.

Again, I will have some posters from my birthday, and some knitting progress in the morning!

Yay for me!

I managed to finally get myself to the gym. I haven't gone at all since like April. Yeah, thats bad. Especially since I love to work out. Well, I don't like running or anything, but I really like lifting weights. Sick, I know. But I did it, I went, and I even did ten minutes of the stairs. I normally do longer than that, but since it has been so long since I worked out, I figured I would go easy. I also lifted really light today too, because I don't want to wake up tomorrow not able to move.

One thing that really frustrates me is people who don't know what they are doing at the gym. I made at least three mental notes of people who were using horribly improper form on some of the weight machines. Like, these people could seriously hurt themselves. One lady had the back extension bar at her neck, instead of her shoulder area. Thats a good way to mess your back up permenantly, not to mention do nothing to work your back. There are others, and I am just really concerned, because not only are these people not benifiting from working out, but they really could hurt themselves. I am not any sort of expert so I guess I feel weird wanting to point it out to them.

I think I decided to go to grad school today. My first choice would be John Jay in New York city. Judy pointed out the Eastern Kentucky University has a forensics grad program, and would probably be much more forgiving of my less than steller GPA. Also one of the research advisor is doing FIBERS!!!!! That would make me sooo happy. So, I need to take my GRE and start applying I guess. Well, there goes my social life.

Busy week.

I haven't had much time to knit lately. I was gone for those few days to Traverse City, and I have been playing catch-up in school work since. I think I finally achieved that. I have been mostly working on Heath's sweater, I almost have both fronts done. It is officially due tomorrow (his 1st birthday), but I am obviously not going to make that deadline.
I am going to take some time to show off what I got recently from Amazon.com. I earned a $100 gift certificate with my credit points and did some major spoiling of myself. I bought the following:






And last but certainly not least:


I love the knitted babes book, and can't wait to make stuff from it. I don't what it is, but I love toys and stuffed animals. The Knit for Peace book is also awesome, and I am going to make so many things from it. I think 2008 is going to be dedicated to charity knitting. I have a large stash so I could use that premise to make a nice dent. CSI is just going to help keep me distracted while I knit the endless Christmas presents.

Ok, back to the baby sweater.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch....

I was out of town last week for a Forensics Conference, so unfortunately not a lot got done in my knitting life, or my blogging life. I did finish one front for the baby's sweater, and am about 1/2 through the other front. I went to Wal-Mart with a friend because he needed some $3 windshield washer fluid. Well, unfortunately I ended up spending $30 on yarn in the craft section because they are discontinuing two brands I actually like. One is Lion Brand Landscapes which makes really pretty, and quick mittens, that I like to use for last-minute gifts. The other is Bernet Softee Stripes, which I use to make stroller/car seat blankets also for gifts. Luckily it was all in the clearance bin, but if they still have some at the store next time, I am sure I will buy more.

Here is the hat I made for Adam, for his birthday. He really liked, which made me happy. Really happy. He said he has never had a hat knit for him before. So it made me feel really special to be a part of that moment in his life. Its kinda melodramatic, I know, but other knitters will understand.

Ok, off to work on this sweater and watch a few episodes of CSI.

The OCD is kicking in.

Well, I started the baby's birthday sweater Thursday night. I have gotten pretty far considering I haven't had a lot of time to work on it. I need to have it finished withing the next two weeks, so it has become the only project I am working on.

As the title says, my OCD kicked in today. I went to the store, came home and cleaned out my car. (Which is saying something, I had cappacino cups in there from the drive here at the beginning of school.) Then I came in and wrapped Adam's present. Hopefully he gets to come over tonight and I can give it to him. Then I will post the pictures and pattern for that. Then I dusted, did dishes, and I am going to swiffer and mop here soon. I can't decide if I want to vaccuum yet, but expect it probably will happen.

I am kinda in this weird mood lately. Nothing makes me happy, and the littlest things just make me mopey. I was mopey last night, and went out with a couple of friends, and unfortunetely that made me more mopey, because I saw people I didn't want to see. Like I know this is a small campus/town, and its going to happen many more times before I graduate, but it still sucked. Oh well, maybe more cleaning will cheer me up.

Look what I made!

I think this is the coolest thing ever! It is a reusable swiffer cloth. This one is made out of cheap acrylic yarn and I use it to dry sweep. I personally think it works better than the store-bought disposible cloths.

http://www.canadianliving.com/CanadianLiving/client/en/Crafts/DetailNews.asp?idNews=236610&idSM=307

That is the link to the dishcloth pattern from the Canadian Living website. I just made it until it was as long as my sweeper, and then crochet some handles.

I love it, and will be making more soon!

One Week....

Wow. This has been.... a week. It had its ups and downs for sure. All in all it was pretty blah. I will try to re-cap as interesting as possible.
Tuesday sucked-period. My cat has been sick for a couple months, and my mom had to put her to sleep Tuesday morning. Unfortunetly I had to go to work, but ended up sobbing over the phone to my mom sitting at my desk. I just feel like a failure that Sam wouldn't get better. I know that she was sick and its wrong to make her suffer, but I really didn't want to have her put to sleep. Even now 5 days later, I am crying as I write this. I ended up texting my friend Charlie that afternoon and talked a little bit, he was at work but told me he would call later. Which segways into our next part.
He texted me and seemed odd, but I just figured he had started drinking already, and was being silly. We talked for about an hour like this and I was told he was gonna come get me to go out to the bar. Well it turned out I wasn't talking to Charlie and it was some random drunk guy. Which again caused a fit of crying. Then finally the real Charlie called and did take me out with him and the guys to kareoke night at the Savoy. Which I needed, it was silly and fun and a good distraction.
Thursday Devon and Dan-o came over and hung out at my place. A couple of their friends showed up to and we all sat around and talked etc. It was nice to have people over here. We then decided to go to the BD, since it was Thursday night and that is what college students in the Soo do. A group of guys that I know where there, and I went over to talk, and thet acted like they didn't know me! That hurt, bad. Especially since most of them complain over IM that I never visit etc. So that pretty much ruined my night, and even Charlie (tried) but couldn't fix it totally.
Yesterday was pretty blah since I had been up late, and I didn't feel very good anyway. But I did get to go to the Yarn store! I bought supplies to make Heath's sweater for his birthday present. He has this pretty blue/green/yellow pastel yarn and some just pastel yarn to go with it. It should be really cute. I also bought some red cotten yarn to make a pair of gloves for my aunt for Christmas. I really want to patronize Gloria's, because I love having a Local Yarn Store (LYS), but everything there is soo expensive, and they don't have any good sock yarn. Half of their stock is nasty fun fur and novelty yarn. I am acutally happier with what I buy at Wal-mart more often.
Last night Adam and I finally(!) got to hang out. We went to the Second City performance at the Arts Center. It was hilarious. They had a mix of improv and rehearsed skits. It was just a laugh. Student got in free too, which was even better. Afterwards Adam just came over and we got to hang out and talk, which was really nice. Him and I seem to be able to talk and not really run out of things to talk about. Which is rare. Hopefully he is coming over for dinner tonight, so I gotta get groceries around for that. He has been really busy working in Brimley with this lady who does dog sledding. So he might have to stay there tonight and take care of the dogs while she is gone. But cross your fingers for me that he doesn't.

Welcome!

Well, I did it. I started a blog. I liked my livejournal, but I wanted a little more customization potential.
I have a pretty big year starting up soon. My senior year of college. I have projects to do, papers to write, books to read, countless hours of studying, and hopefully some fun in between. I am glad to be back though. I really enjoyed working for the Forensics Lab. I learned so much about evidence handling, paperwork, drug culture, as well as how to work and run the instruments. Not to mention that is completely affirmed that this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Everyday was something new and even the scientists who had been there 15+ years never stopped looking up new information and learning. I can't wait to (hopefully) get a job next year.
Well, that's all for this post. Keep tuned for future episodes.