I just found out a few days ago that my sister was in a fashion show in Kansas City (wow!) modeling a dress made by her friend, Martha! Exciting, huh?
Read the article here When they talk about the dress by Martha, and the model with the baby, that's my sister and the baby that she nannies for
=)
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
A green thumb after all...
Turns out I can grow flowers from seeds! My very first bachelor's button bloomed last night/yesterday...and here's a picture!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
A good one...
The Real Work
by Wendell Berry
It may be that when we no longer know
what to do we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go,
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
by Wendell Berry
It may be that when we no longer know
what to do we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go,
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
Monday, June 05, 2006
abbie attempts to have a more exciting blog...
by actually posting on it ;)
Been kind of busy recently...just bought new running shoes that I love love love...and I'm on week five of the beginner runner's plan from Runners World (click here to see the plan)It's taken me about 2 months to get there...decided that exercising when I can, and cutting myself some slack when I couldn't was better than just quitting when I had a week that I didn't get out enough. I'm pretty psyched because this is the third time I've tried it, and the best I've EVER done...maybe all my amazing running (Yay Heather and Christina!), glacier climbing, triathloning friends have rubbed off on me a little ;)
All the little flower seeds (wildflowers, old fashioned seed mix, and bachelor buttons)I planted are sprouting up...except the ones I planted in my two ceramic pots that don't have draining holes. With all the rain we've gotten, those have pretty much turned into stagnant pools...oops! It's true, all pots need to have holes in the bottom or be placed inside where they can't get downpoured on...BUT I still consider it a personal victory that I could grow plants from seeds. =) I'll post pictures when they look more flower-y.
Umm...other exciting news...I sold one of my photographs at the Mushroom Festival! I sold the rocking chair picture (you can see it if you scroll down). Then the flower picture became a mother's day gift for my boyfriend's mom (it's from her garden). The fence picture is back on my wall where it belongs, and the tree and the pier pictures are hanging out here...because I don't want to pay 30-50% comission for someone to sell it in their store (yeah...no thanks). My chiropractor did take a CD of my pictures today (I put together an awesome power point...I wish you could see it)...he's looking for stuff to put on his office walls...so I'm hoping he finds something that'll work. He wants 11x14s and it'd be so awesome to see my work that BIG! =)
That's about it...oh, and I have tons of food in my house, and all I want to eat is cheese sticks from pizza palace...craziness! I think I'll break down tomorrow and just go buy some, and maybe then I'll be left to eat my chicken (and everything else in the refrigerator) in peace.
Been kind of busy recently...just bought new running shoes that I love love love...and I'm on week five of the beginner runner's plan from Runners World (click here to see the plan)It's taken me about 2 months to get there...decided that exercising when I can, and cutting myself some slack when I couldn't was better than just quitting when I had a week that I didn't get out enough. I'm pretty psyched because this is the third time I've tried it, and the best I've EVER done...maybe all my amazing running (Yay Heather and Christina!), glacier climbing, triathloning friends have rubbed off on me a little ;)
All the little flower seeds (wildflowers, old fashioned seed mix, and bachelor buttons)I planted are sprouting up...except the ones I planted in my two ceramic pots that don't have draining holes. With all the rain we've gotten, those have pretty much turned into stagnant pools...oops! It's true, all pots need to have holes in the bottom or be placed inside where they can't get downpoured on...BUT I still consider it a personal victory that I could grow plants from seeds. =) I'll post pictures when they look more flower-y.
Umm...other exciting news...I sold one of my photographs at the Mushroom Festival! I sold the rocking chair picture (you can see it if you scroll down). Then the flower picture became a mother's day gift for my boyfriend's mom (it's from her garden). The fence picture is back on my wall where it belongs, and the tree and the pier pictures are hanging out here...because I don't want to pay 30-50% comission for someone to sell it in their store (yeah...no thanks). My chiropractor did take a CD of my pictures today (I put together an awesome power point...I wish you could see it)...he's looking for stuff to put on his office walls...so I'm hoping he finds something that'll work. He wants 11x14s and it'd be so awesome to see my work that BIG! =)
That's about it...oh, and I have tons of food in my house, and all I want to eat is cheese sticks from pizza palace...craziness! I think I'll break down tomorrow and just go buy some, and maybe then I'll be left to eat my chicken (and everything else in the refrigerator) in peace.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
A little bit late...
Well I finally read about this contest, and now it's too late to enter but I'm going to write out the places anyway...
Name places other than your house or a knitting store where you have knit...:
In hotel lobbies
During small group meetings for church
In the library during Young Adult Book Club...ah, knitting and Anne of Green Gables, I was in heaven! =)
Name places other than your house or a knitting store where you have knit...:
In hotel lobbies
During small group meetings for church
In the library during Young Adult Book Club...ah, knitting and Anne of Green Gables, I was in heaven! =)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
SO EXCITED!!
So, I went out and got more prints and frames, put the prints in the frames, and now my photographs are all ready to go to the Arts Council booth at the festival this weekend. I'm so thrilled about how nice they look that I'm bouncing off the ceiling (this is the first time I've ever had a group of my photographs in frames and looking all nice)!
Just had to share...
A little about the pictures (because that's fun to talk about)...
Starting with the far left (with the lights and the water), this photograph was taken on a pier in Seattle. It was our second night in the city. It was raining and we were walking to a seafood resturant (which was just to the left of where I took this picture). I thought the lights looked really neat against the water and the gray sky, so I took one picture (got my camera a little bit wet in the process) and then followed my friends into the resturant.
The Flower photograph was taken in my boyfriend's Mom's garden a few years ago, I think. I love it, but I'm glad it's the only flower picture of the bunch--sometimes I get a little flower happy and end up with a TOO many flower pictures. (In college, my friends used to joke that I could have a whole photography portfolio of just flowers) ;)
To the right of that, is the Pack Forest picture, which is described a few posts down. It was a rainy, cold day to be walking around a forest, but I was in heaven (bad weather can make some of the BEST photographs).
The next picture, the fence, was taken last May in Wyoming...I once again had gotten the urge to take pictures in questionable weather (we were under a winter storm warning when I took this one). The picture was taken just outside of the town where I lived, and it's one of my two favorite pictures from my year in Wyoming.
And then the last picture, the rocking chair, was taken during my spring break trip to South Dakota, and, it's true that sometimes you don't have to go far for good pictures...this chair is on my parents porch (I've also got a picture of it covered with snow--needless to say I didn't get much of a tan while "spring-breaking" in SD) ;)
Just had to share...
A little about the pictures (because that's fun to talk about)...
Starting with the far left (with the lights and the water), this photograph was taken on a pier in Seattle. It was our second night in the city. It was raining and we were walking to a seafood resturant (which was just to the left of where I took this picture). I thought the lights looked really neat against the water and the gray sky, so I took one picture (got my camera a little bit wet in the process) and then followed my friends into the resturant.
The Flower photograph was taken in my boyfriend's Mom's garden a few years ago, I think. I love it, but I'm glad it's the only flower picture of the bunch--sometimes I get a little flower happy and end up with a TOO many flower pictures. (In college, my friends used to joke that I could have a whole photography portfolio of just flowers) ;)
To the right of that, is the Pack Forest picture, which is described a few posts down. It was a rainy, cold day to be walking around a forest, but I was in heaven (bad weather can make some of the BEST photographs).
The next picture, the fence, was taken last May in Wyoming...I once again had gotten the urge to take pictures in questionable weather (we were under a winter storm warning when I took this one). The picture was taken just outside of the town where I lived, and it's one of my two favorite pictures from my year in Wyoming.
And then the last picture, the rocking chair, was taken during my spring break trip to South Dakota, and, it's true that sometimes you don't have to go far for good pictures...this chair is on my parents porch (I've also got a picture of it covered with snow--needless to say I didn't get much of a tan while "spring-breaking" in SD) ;)
slacker slacker slacker
Okay, it's been a little while...and I don't have much to write about because not a whole heck of a lot has been going on. I do have to get some prints and frames together because there's a local festival this weekend, and I can exhibit/sell my work in the Arts Council booth for free. So tonight will involve a trip to Target (I LOVE Target) where I'll print my pictures at one of those digital kiosk things and then buy frames that already have mats in them--it's all very complicated ;) I'm really excited about having my photography in the booth, and I figure even if it doesn't sell, at least everyone will know what a bad-ass photographer I am ;)
I've also started walking/jogging (I'd like to call it running, but there's actually no running involved). It's a training thing from Runners World that I've tried a few times in the past--good for starting out and getting exercise without totally wishing you were dead. If you're interested, you can find it right here http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/article/0,5033,s6-51-184-0-2201-3-2X3X6-4,00.html
I think I may really stick with it this time...I've actually been looking forward to exercising (gasp!) which is a new thing for me, and the benefits (stress relief, being in a better mood, not feeling like a lazy lump, and actually getting stronger) are amazing. But there's nothing wrong with a little accountability, so I'm on week 2 (jog a minute, walk a minute) and I've only walk/jogged once this week...so I need to go two more times by Sunday
What else...well I had a huge spring cleaning/get rid of stuff fest and I finally got rid of all the bedding stuff that I didn't like (ugly comforter and too small sheets)...so the goal for May will be to find a new quilt/coverlet thing (right now I've got a twin size quilt on my queen sized bed--more than big enough for me but it looks a little funny. I'm going to look at Target tonight and maybe sneak over to Linens and Things too...I'm thinking plain...green, maybe? then then I could get some fun sheets (hmm....Target has fun sheets)...
Maybe going to Target isn't such a good idea when pay day is still two days away... ;)
I've also started walking/jogging (I'd like to call it running, but there's actually no running involved). It's a training thing from Runners World that I've tried a few times in the past--good for starting out and getting exercise without totally wishing you were dead. If you're interested, you can find it right here http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/article/0,5033,s6-51-184-0-2201-3-2X3X6-4,00.html
I think I may really stick with it this time...I've actually been looking forward to exercising (gasp!) which is a new thing for me, and the benefits (stress relief, being in a better mood, not feeling like a lazy lump, and actually getting stronger) are amazing. But there's nothing wrong with a little accountability, so I'm on week 2 (jog a minute, walk a minute) and I've only walk/jogged once this week...so I need to go two more times by Sunday
What else...well I had a huge spring cleaning/get rid of stuff fest and I finally got rid of all the bedding stuff that I didn't like (ugly comforter and too small sheets)...so the goal for May will be to find a new quilt/coverlet thing (right now I've got a twin size quilt on my queen sized bed--more than big enough for me but it looks a little funny. I'm going to look at Target tonight and maybe sneak over to Linens and Things too...I'm thinking plain...green, maybe? then then I could get some fun sheets (hmm....Target has fun sheets)...
Maybe going to Target isn't such a good idea when pay day is still two days away... ;)
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Wow...
so the number of people who've visited my blog has pretty much doubled over one weekend...that's pretty darn cool (and I'm trying not to let my new-found fame go to my head ;) ) May seem a little strange to get excited about 136 people veiwing my proflie (that's total...not just this week) but for awhile I've been convinced that the only person that really saw my blog was my boyfriend...so yep, this is great!
Thanks Kirsten! I think you're freakin' awesome too--your knitting projects are incredible and inspiring (lace knitting---you must have the patience of a saint! Remember when I was working on Branching Out? Well...it hasn't gotten any longer since then...I think it'll be a loooong-term project) and I love reading about everything you're up to (P.S. I love Alton Brown too--if he weren't married I'd go to Georgia and steal him for myself--now don't you go down there and try it, I'd fight you for him ;) )
So with great fame (lol) comes great responsibility...how can I make my blog interesting enough that people will come back? That's something I've wondered the entire time I've had a blog actually...and I've thought about having a theme (photography or "how to survive in rural Kentucky when you're not from Kentucky and don't have a clue what soup beans or country ham is") but the truth is, I'm too scatterbrained for a theme...so I'll just keep posting about the random parts of my life and hope you'll stop by sometimes and check it out!! Oh, and if you're really into photography...root around a little more...I've got some stuff from Wyoming that I really like and it's in the postings from last March (?) I think...
Photography is pretty much my favorite thing of all time--I've been taking pictures since I was nine (heck yeah, 4-H photography project!). Since then, I've had a photograph on the cover of Kansas Banker Magazine (you all saw that issue, right?? ;) ), dominated the Douglas County 4-H photography contest at the county fair and newspaper/yearbook photography stuff at my high school (you can also find some of my pictures in the FSHS display at the local Applebees...now that's the big time ;) ) and went to Ohio Univeristy for photojournalism..and got totally BURNT OUT, switched majors twice and ended up as an English major (and since reading is my second favorite thing, things worked out really well--though as you can see, I still love the run-on sentence)...
Now that the burnt out feeling has worn off (helped along by receiving a Canon Digital Rebel for graduation) I'm happily taking my camera anywhere and everywhere I go. I'm also looking into getting my photography displayed at some local galleries and since it turns out that people (other than my parents) think my photography is worth buying, I'm also looking into selling my prints (SO EXCITING!!)
If you're really into knitting...well...you're pretty much seeing the extent of my knitting skills right here (though there are some adorable baby boy scout socks around here somewhere). I first learned to knit from my sister Erin, promptly forgot how, and learned again during a sock knitting class I took last winter...I'm still learning but I love knitting (and I NEED the stress-relief!) and I also love impressing the heck out of people when I'm using double-points ;)
Anyway that's about it for me...except for...a quote that I love right now...(heck, if I can't get you to come back, maybe Voltaire can!)
"I have always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it is, "My God, make our enemies very ridiculous!" God has granted it to me." - Voltaire
May all your enemies be "very ridiculous" ;) Thanks for coming by
Thanks Kirsten! I think you're freakin' awesome too--your knitting projects are incredible and inspiring (lace knitting---you must have the patience of a saint! Remember when I was working on Branching Out? Well...it hasn't gotten any longer since then...I think it'll be a loooong-term project) and I love reading about everything you're up to (P.S. I love Alton Brown too--if he weren't married I'd go to Georgia and steal him for myself--now don't you go down there and try it, I'd fight you for him ;) )
So with great fame (lol) comes great responsibility...how can I make my blog interesting enough that people will come back? That's something I've wondered the entire time I've had a blog actually...and I've thought about having a theme (photography or "how to survive in rural Kentucky when you're not from Kentucky and don't have a clue what soup beans or country ham is") but the truth is, I'm too scatterbrained for a theme...so I'll just keep posting about the random parts of my life and hope you'll stop by sometimes and check it out!! Oh, and if you're really into photography...root around a little more...I've got some stuff from Wyoming that I really like and it's in the postings from last March (?) I think...
Photography is pretty much my favorite thing of all time--I've been taking pictures since I was nine (heck yeah, 4-H photography project!). Since then, I've had a photograph on the cover of Kansas Banker Magazine (you all saw that issue, right?? ;) ), dominated the Douglas County 4-H photography contest at the county fair and newspaper/yearbook photography stuff at my high school (you can also find some of my pictures in the FSHS display at the local Applebees...now that's the big time ;) ) and went to Ohio Univeristy for photojournalism..and got totally BURNT OUT, switched majors twice and ended up as an English major (and since reading is my second favorite thing, things worked out really well--though as you can see, I still love the run-on sentence)...
Now that the burnt out feeling has worn off (helped along by receiving a Canon Digital Rebel for graduation) I'm happily taking my camera anywhere and everywhere I go. I'm also looking into getting my photography displayed at some local galleries and since it turns out that people (other than my parents) think my photography is worth buying, I'm also looking into selling my prints (SO EXCITING!!)
If you're really into knitting...well...you're pretty much seeing the extent of my knitting skills right here (though there are some adorable baby boy scout socks around here somewhere). I first learned to knit from my sister Erin, promptly forgot how, and learned again during a sock knitting class I took last winter...I'm still learning but I love knitting (and I NEED the stress-relief!) and I also love impressing the heck out of people when I'm using double-points ;)
Anyway that's about it for me...except for...a quote that I love right now...(heck, if I can't get you to come back, maybe Voltaire can!)
"I have always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it is, "My God, make our enemies very ridiculous!" God has granted it to me." - Voltaire
May all your enemies be "very ridiculous" ;) Thanks for coming by
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Can you spot the finished projects??
My most recent knitting projects...one and a half toddler socks (the other half is on the way). I LOVE making these socks and luckily, it seems like everyone I know is having babies. I'm also loving the purple varigated yarn--I think it's making the cutest socks ever (rivaled only by the baby boy scout socks I made). The socks are all resting on my newly finised throw--which I love so much that it goes on my bed every night and back to my couch during the day. I'm not sure what I'll tackle next. I've been doing some online pattern searching--one of these days I may attempt to make socks that are actually my size!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Other Exciting Things...
I don't think I posted anything about it, but I entered one of my photographs from Seattle in the "Glories of the Garden" Art Show at the UK Arboretum. I was thrilled when it was picked for the show, vey excited at the Artists' Reception...but that was nothing compared to Friday morning, when I found out someone had bought my photograph!!! So somewhere, on someone's wall...someone I don't even know, there's a signed, framed print by me!! I don't think I've posted the picture yet, so here it is...feel free to tell me how beautiful it is (hehe) ;)
Work in progress...
So on Friday night I started knitting a throw...and it's going pretty well! It's 60 stiches, knitting both sides (is that garter stitch? maybe?), holding two strands of Lion Brand Homespun (in Colonial--dark blue with turquoise and beige accents) on size 35 needles (which are huge...but honestly, I wouldn't knit a throw with needles that weren't huge ;) )
Friday, January 20, 2006
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Going to be a couch potato!!
Guess what I did today??? I bought a couch! Now this may seem pretty normal/not that exciting...BUT for the past 6 months I've been living WITHOUT a couch...which means I've had a papasaun chair and a folding camp chair in my living room...and even though they are acceptable things to sit on, they are not at all like a couch...
So yesterday, my wonderful new friend Keith called me to say that they'd seen some nice couches at the Peddler's Mall in Richmond. I was so excited (especially knowing that Keith has impeccible taste and would only tell me about nice couches) so I took off work at 4 and drove over to Richmond to check them out....ahhh love at first sight!!! so my new couch is really comfortable AND it looks like it's never been used AT ALL (it also doesn't look like the type of couch that would have fleas, bedbugs, or mice living in it--and yes, bedbugs do really exist and are making a comeback...oh, the things you learn working for the College of Agriculture ;) )
So my new couch looks like it came from someone's formal living room...it's part of a two couch set (I did think about buying the other one but really...I don't need two of the same couch). It's got a lower back and low armrests, and it's a blue, sage green, gold floral, which sounds...well, it sounds hideous...but take it from a girl that does not normally like florals, it's really cute...and now you're picturing retro...but I think the couch isn't actually that old...anyway, I'll post a picture when it gets here!
That's the only sad thing...me with my camry on a really rainy day can't get a couch from Richmond to my apartment...so I've already been trying to secure some help and a truck for tomorrow after work...luckily, I am very persuasive, determined and I've got a killer smile...
;)
So yesterday, my wonderful new friend Keith called me to say that they'd seen some nice couches at the Peddler's Mall in Richmond. I was so excited (especially knowing that Keith has impeccible taste and would only tell me about nice couches) so I took off work at 4 and drove over to Richmond to check them out....ahhh love at first sight!!! so my new couch is really comfortable AND it looks like it's never been used AT ALL (it also doesn't look like the type of couch that would have fleas, bedbugs, or mice living in it--and yes, bedbugs do really exist and are making a comeback...oh, the things you learn working for the College of Agriculture ;) )
So my new couch looks like it came from someone's formal living room...it's part of a two couch set (I did think about buying the other one but really...I don't need two of the same couch). It's got a lower back and low armrests, and it's a blue, sage green, gold floral, which sounds...well, it sounds hideous...but take it from a girl that does not normally like florals, it's really cute...and now you're picturing retro...but I think the couch isn't actually that old...anyway, I'll post a picture when it gets here!
That's the only sad thing...me with my camry on a really rainy day can't get a couch from Richmond to my apartment...so I've already been trying to secure some help and a truck for tomorrow after work...luckily, I am very persuasive, determined and I've got a killer smile...
;)
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Some of my favorites...
For eight years, I've been collecting quotations and putting them into blank books. It's always a thrill find a new quotation that I love and can add to my collection! This evening, after adding a few new ones to my book, I was reading back through the some of the older ones....
"So, when something out of the ordinary happens,
some event that brings reassurance that our faith is trustworthy,
we welcome it with all our heart.
But the lesson is the same,
ultimately
everything is going to be okay."
- Mitch Finley
"What is the meaning of it all? I will never know. But I may, like those first graders, give my life meaning by throwing myself recklessly into it daily, as if something astonishing is happening and I am a part of it. It is and I am." -Robert Fulghum
Wow...
=)
"So, when something out of the ordinary happens,
some event that brings reassurance that our faith is trustworthy,
we welcome it with all our heart.
But the lesson is the same,
ultimately
everything is going to be okay."
- Mitch Finley
"What is the meaning of it all? I will never know. But I may, like those first graders, give my life meaning by throwing myself recklessly into it daily, as if something astonishing is happening and I am a part of it. It is and I am." -Robert Fulghum
Wow...
=)
Friday, December 30, 2005
You Can Be Domestic Too
So I had a wonderful Christmas, and got a lot of great gifts (all very useful and domestic as my sister called them). I'm the proud owner of a new sewing machine...and today I even managed to use it AND keep my I-hate-not-knowing-how-to-use-things temper down enough that I didn't throw it through the window. I did however imagine throwing it through a window and gained quite a bit of satisfaction from that. I'm psyched about it though and am looking forward to making more pillowcases, curtains, and cute purses than my apartment can hold (and maybe someday I'll branch out and make some pajama pants...we'll see ;) ) Oh, and just think of how I can dominate craft challenges when I don't have to sew everything by hand! ;)
I also got lots of cooking related gifts...hand mixer..cooling racks...cookie sheets...cookie jar, two new knitting books, the Redwall cookbook (yum!), CDs and new sheets for my bed (already washed and ready to go! yes, I have been taking full advantage of my parents' washer and dryer)
So with all my domestic gifts and a new year about to begin, I resolve to become a DOMESTIC GODDESS, able to create all my own clothing, cook everything from scratch, decorate and furnish my home with a few bits of twine and some tape...
hmm...maybe not ;)
I also got lots of cooking related gifts...hand mixer..cooling racks...cookie sheets...cookie jar, two new knitting books, the Redwall cookbook (yum!), CDs and new sheets for my bed (already washed and ready to go! yes, I have been taking full advantage of my parents' washer and dryer)
So with all my domestic gifts and a new year about to begin, I resolve to become a DOMESTIC GODDESS, able to create all my own clothing, cook everything from scratch, decorate and furnish my home with a few bits of twine and some tape...
hmm...maybe not ;)
Saturday, December 24, 2005
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree...
Merry Christmas!I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday so far! I'm doing great--with all my family here, plus 7 dogs, 5 Christmas trees, 2 plates of cookies and fudge (and a partridge in a pear tree) things couldn't be better!
I've posted pictures of all of my Mom's trees, so you can see them. From the top, we have the Family Tree, that's located in the family room. Below that is the Gold Tree that's in the dining room. Next is the Snowman Tree that's in the T.V. room. Then, there's the Kitchen Tree, and then there's the Silver Tree that's at the top of the stairs. The dogs leave the trees alone pretty well, but Freya (that's Erin's dog) has the "tail of doom" that tends to knock glass ornaments off the snowman tree, so we have experienced some ornament casualities. ;)
I've posted pictures of all of my Mom's trees, so you can see them. From the top, we have the Family Tree, that's located in the family room. Below that is the Gold Tree that's in the dining room. Next is the Snowman Tree that's in the T.V. room. Then, there's the Kitchen Tree, and then there's the Silver Tree that's at the top of the stairs. The dogs leave the trees alone pretty well, but Freya (that's Erin's dog) has the "tail of doom" that tends to knock glass ornaments off the snowman tree, so we have experienced some ornament casualities. ;)
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