More Spring Shooting...

This morning, I decided to head out again to see what kind of pictures I could get of all these blossoming trees. It was MUCH warmer and less windy this time, so I took tons more pictures and got several that I like even better than the ones I took last week (although it did take a lot longer to sort through and decide which ones I actually liked and then working with those to crop them and make them smaller).

There is a particularly pretty group of trees over by the bike path, which is where most of these pictures are from (except the pink blossoms, those are in from the parking lot near work). Every time I've driven or walked by, there are people out there eating picnics under the trees, taking pictures, cuddling with their sweethearts, or bringing their kids to see them. It's really fun, and I'm definitely glad to be a part of the tree appreciation! =)

While I was out this morning, it started sprinkling rain while I was standing under one of the trees, and white petals were falling down all around me. Amazing!

On the range...

On Tuesday evening, I went to the shooting range with John. I shot his 22 handgun (until the darn thing jammed three times and then I was DONE with it) and his 22 rifle, while he went and shot his Russian something-or-other over on the rifle range.

I shot something like this (I'm not sure from what distance...but then, I'm not really keeping track ;) )...



I was pretty happy with the fact that almost every single shot hit the target, and that there were a few near the bullseye. John talks about wanting his shots to be in a group (like all together in a very small circle, quarter-sized, 3 inches, etc. etc.). Right now, I'm working on a pretty good grouping about the size of a medium pizza. ;)

Then, John came over and shot the 22 rifle (and here he is posing because I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get him actually shooting)




And here is the best picture I could get of both of us (ear protection and all, sexy huh? ;) )

Spring!

Pictures from this morning...

Rock Chalk..

Jayhawk, go KU!

So on Monday night, I watched the KU Men's Basketball team win the National Championship! It was an awesome game and at the end I was sure they were going to lose (lack of faith, I know) and then...several missed free throws by Memphis and BAM an amazing 3 pointer--with seconds left they tie it up, send it in to overtime, and win it ALL! John even watched the whole first half and the last 10 seconds when I thought they were going to lose (and then made that 3-pointer which resulted in me yelling in his ear...oops ;) )

I am so excited about the win...I remember when they won in 1988. My parents letting us honk the car horn after they won each tournament game, going to the parade, telling my parents I wanted to be as tall as Danny Manning (6'11! Glad genetics kept that dream from coming true ;)) and being jealous that Brenna got to go to the championship rally, and I had to go to school.

The best thing about tournament time is that when I'm sitting and watching the game, I know Heather, and my Grandma, and my Mom (and my aunts, my sister, her boyfriend, etc. etc.) are all watching the game, too. I remember every season watching and hoping and waiting for another win...my parents calling me out of school so I could watch the game with my friends (yes, they totally did this! How sweet are my parents??), going at all hours to meet the players at Allen Fieldhouse after they had lost, Late Night, scrapbooks of our favorite players (oh, how I loved CB McGrath!), and fighting with Brenna when we both wanted the same KU basketball picture out of the newspaper.

And the mushiest thing of all, is that...for a little while, my family, my friends, and my hometown don't seem so far away...

Good job 'Hawks...I couldn't make it to Mass Street, or the rally, or the parade this year...but I was there in spirit (and I didn't have to be jealous because Brenna didn't get to go either). Thanks for the great season!

The longest scarf yet...

So I also finally finished my Dad's Christmas present...

Guess how long it ended up being?



Yep, 104 inches or (as long as I'm doing the math correctly) 8 feet 8 inches of cabled, wooly wonderfulness ;) Before I sent it, I had my stuffed dog, Blue, model it...



It was the Irish Hiking Scarf, made on size 10 needles, with Galaway Highland Heather (3 skeins...610 yards...over 6 football fields worth of yarn) ;) After making the scarf from wool, I feel a little bad that John's scarf is acrylic...but not bad enough that I'm going to make another one anytime soon (and also John says I need to make a scarf for myself...which sounds good but I'm also not going to do anytime soon)

For now, I'm focusing on washcloths ;)

In which, I make something other than a scarf...

after months of scarf cabling, I took a break, and made something else...

Wristwarmers! (Voodoo Wristwarmers from Knitty...no clue what the yarn was though)

I started and finished them during our knitting retreat at Lake Hope (last weekend of Feb/first of March), and it was so satisfying to actually FINISH something and use the yarn that Erin bought from me at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence last May (Thank you, Erin! All the knitting girls loved the yarn, too!). So here they are...



It's kind of hard to take pictures of your own hands...but this is the best I could do.



I finally gave up and had John help me out, so here you can see both of them

I think they're cute...am having a bit of a hard time finding the right weather to wear them (usually if my wrists are cold, my fingers are even colder...) but I am now prepared for any situation that requires warm wrists!

I am a slow, slow blogger...

but I'll make up for it with all the stuff I post tonight! Really, really! =)

This picture is of a quilt I put together from blocks we made at my friend Amber's baby shower (remember that, all those 10 months ago). Well, last month I finally got it finished and sent. I was VERY intimidated to try and put it together so I put it off for a really long time...but here it is, in completed form! I'm happy with how it turned out, and glad that it's finally with my friends!

Socks!!

I finally finished my very first pair of Abbie-sized socks! =)

Pattern: Random internet pattern for ribbed socks

Yarn: Swizzle Self-Striping Sock Yarn

Check 'em out!



What I learned from my first pair of adult socks...

*Use a pattern from a source you know and trust. This pattern was okay...didn't like the heel or toe directions...and then halfway through the first sock, I couldn't find it online anymore, and I'd lost my print out (oops!)

*Use bigger needles next time/make a swatch--these fit because they're stretchy BUT I'd like to make my next pair a little bigger

*Extra toe room is better than not enough

*Self-striping yarn is way fun and awesome!


My next project is finishing my dad's scarf (soon!) and then I'm thinking about some wristwarmers from knitty.com.

Yay!

Bag Tag

Bag tag (from Christina)

Here are the rules:
1. you have to show your bag
2. you have to show all the contents in your bag-without cleaning out first
3. tag 5 other people

This is the bag I take to work everyday, my Mountainsmith Day...holds about everything and the kitchen sink ;)



And here's everything that's inside it...



Which includes:
lunchbox
water bottle
travel mug
umbrella
day planner
ibuprofen
two things of lip balm
two string cheeses
one raspberry green tea teabag (in a plastic container)
two spoons
checkbook
old paystub
old receipt
ball-point pen
four pennies
my keys
and a pill bottle top

(usually my wallet and phone would be in there, too, but I went to the grocery store after work and put those in my coat pocket)

I'd tag people, but...everyone I know with a blog has already been tagged...so if you happen to read this, and want to play along, go for it! =)

Tired tiredness...

Just finished our One Day pledge drive for the public radio station...whew! I've been up since 3 am and working since 5:40, but the WOUB listeners really stepped up and raised $35,000+ in one day. I'm still amazed...and also tired ;) John's conked out on the couch right next to me...he's been up since midnight and got so much stuff done today...including a 6:30 am grocery store trip (wow!!). I'm thinking that he's out for the night...I'm actually going to a friend's house to climb (well...really, I'm just going to hang out while everyone else climbs...not exerting any more effort than I have to this evening ;) )

Another word contest...

Edit: Looking for "another word for contest?"

How about...competition, game, match, meet, tournament, trial, challenge, event, bout, or row? Or you can check out a thesaurus for more ideas.

Now, back to the actual blog post...

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/11494

So yep, this is pretty much what I've been doing all evening (and paying no mind to the mountain of dishes and the mountain of laundry)...I'm hoping that I'll win. I've somehow gotten myself into a t-shirt shortage, and I think the "easy as 3.1415..." shirt is adorable.

Anyway, not a whole lot of news here. I went on a Big Lots shopping spree this morning (where I go when I feel like shopping but don't want to spend much money at all)...so an hour and $10 later, I ended up with the cutest rug for my kitchen, a valance for one of our many bare windows (well, they have blinds but no curtains...I haven't decided yet which window it's going on) and two boxes of granola bars...went to the climbing wall with friends after that...came home and gave the dog a bath...really need to do a lot of house cleaning but I'm putting it off...

Or something like that...

Okay, turns out I don't have enough friends/readers/anyone who has a blog and wants some cool homemade type stuff...so, no worries about the blog thing...the next two people to comment can get some sweet homemade thing from me (Brenna's already commented so she's already on the list)...ready, set, go comment!

Hmm...what else is going on....my knitting projects are at a stand still. I divided wrong when I figured how long my dad's scarf was...actually it's about 7 1/2 feet so I still have some to go on it...I read The Goose Girl this week and liked it a lot (enough to not stop reading at midnight like I told myself I would, and stay up until 1:30 when I finished it...which led to general crankiness the next day ;) ). I got the idea to read it from Christina and from my sister, Erin...good picking ladies! ;) Next on my list is Stardust, and then I'm going to track down the Sisters Grimm books that Erin suggested.

I've been climbing again, too (yay!). I finally got a student center membership and have been 4 times already, with another trip planned for tomorrow (after I sleep in, of course....sleeping in three days in a row is my big plan for the weekend ;) )

Pay it forward...

I got this from my friend Christina's blog...I think it'll be really fun...and I hope some of you have blogs and can play, too!

So here's how it works. "I will send a handmade gift, treat, etc. to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange." The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. **So, you must have a blog to participate.**

To join, just cut and paste this on your blog and comment away. So get posting!

Yay!

Not a whole lot new is going on with me...On Monday, I got a student fitness center membership this quarter. So, I've already been climbing twice (!!) and am doing better than I thought I would (and will be doing great if I keep going a couple times a week).

I'm still knitting on my Dad's scarf (a Christmas present)...it wasn't quite done on Christmas so I asked him how long he'd like it to be...he says, "Have you ever seen Dr. Who?" I actually haven't but apparently, it meant that he wanted a SUPER long scarf...I told him he'd have to settle for 9-10 feet. I think I'm around the 9 ft range now...I'll post a picture when I decide I'm done (10 ft? maybe?). I'm also still working on my first pair of adult-sized socks...all I have left is the toe on the second sock and then they'll be done and up on my blog, too...and then, I think I'm making wristwarmers next....or maybe some toddler socks again...hmm...

=)

Heck yeah!

A few weeks ago, I entered Lisa Yee's 2nd Annual Bodacious Book Title Contest (a contest that involved changing one word in a book title to a rhyming word and then writing a sentence about the resulting book).

I entered a ton of different titles, and I found out today that one of my submissions was named a highly commended title!!!!!!

Unfortunately, I don't win anything, but it is the most exciting thing that's happened ALL year (way more exciting than feeding the dog, letting her outside, and making tea).

You can read the winning titles and my commended title here, and if you'd like to read all of my non-commended titles (I'm partial to the one about the lepers), they're in the comment section of this post (on pages 3 and 4).

So, I'm having a pretty happy year so far! Hope that you are, too!

From the air...

Taken during the flight from Minneapolis to Columbus

And 2007 is almost over...

We're back from our Christmas in South Dakota, which was wonderful, cold and white (with the perfect snowflakes falling outside the windows while we opened presents). There's lots to tell, so I'll get right to it...

We had some excitement getting there, with our flight being canceled on the 23rd (which, unfortunately I didn't check before we drove to the airport...hope I've learned my lesson on that one). We left for the airport the next morning at 4 am, get there in plenty of time, the flight is not canceled, the plane is there...and then we board the plane, there's brake maintenance that needs done (1 hour), we fly to Minneapolis and there's another plane already at our gate so we have to wait (12 minutes).

Our next flight is leaving in about 5 minutes (so we start running...from Concourse F to concourse A...and believe me, John and I are not in the kind of shape that distance requires). Luckily once we get to concourse A, our flight has been delayed (What a relief! We will make it home!).

We are ten minutes from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but there is fog and only 1/4 mile visibility, so we'll be circling for 20 minutes to see if it gets better (needs to be 1/2 mile) and if it doesn't, we'll have to fly to Sioux City, Iowa (70 miles South) to refuel and try it again (UGH!!!!). So I spend the next fifteen minutes staring at the clouds/fog willing them to thin out, trying to figure out if they look any thinner, and I guess it does get thinner (it actually never looked any different to me) because we start our descent and land in Sioux Falls. My Dad is there (yay!) but our luggage is not (booo!!)

Long story short (or, long story a little less long) we went back and checked that afternoon, but still no luggage. It actually showed up Christmas morning--the airline had delivered it to my parents' next door neighbor's and they brought it over, complete with about an inch of powdery snow on top...I was going to include a picture of me bringing my snowy luggage into the house (grinning from ear to ear) but it turns out that one was on my Dad's camera (oops!)so....anyway

Christmas was wonderful...had the big surprise of finding a Nintendo Wii next to our stockings...John and I had totally given up on getting one for Christmas (who knew they'd be so hard to find??) but there it was! It turns out my parents (er...I mean, Santa) can do anything! Everyone enjoyed playing it for the rest of our visit...I'm an especially big fan of the fishing game and the one where you're riding a cow and trying to knock over scarecrows. There were lots of other nice gifts, too...cooking stuff for John, Fiestaware, a really warm robe, and DVDs for me. Then John helped my Mom finish up Christmas dinner (using his new food mill to mash/mill the potatoes)




The other big news (on top of getting our luggage AND a Nintendo Wii) is...

I got my wedding dress!!!

I, of course, can't post pictures or describe it because John reads my blog...but it's beautiful! I found it at a place in Sioux Falls, and I'll pick it up in May when I got back for my Mom and sister's graduations. My sister has about 45 pictures of it on her camera though, so I'll be glad to email out pictures of it once she sends them to me.

I also wanted to include the link that has pictures of the location...it'll be at a park outside of Lancaster, which has a little lake and a lodge looking over it next to a forest...it's so pretty...you can see pictures of the park and building here...

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

We got our tree up on Sunday, after a marathon shopping trip to Lancaster and dinner with friends (so, I think we actually finished putting it up early Monday morning). Anyway, it's really cute, and I love it.

I'm especially loving the tree topper...which is the one from John's family's tree when he was a kid. John brought it up from the basement when we stopped to borrow the tree. I thought it was adorable, but unfortunately, it didn't work...

However, after buying a new set of lights (and a glue gun), carefully dismantling the topper, and hot gluing all the new lights in place one by one...it's back to it's former, blinking glory! And before you think, "wow...Abbie did a lot of work to fix that," you should know that John was the one who did it all. What can I say, he sports a mean glue gun. ;)

So, I love the topper...and the fact that John went to so much trouble to fix it and that he insisted that it blinked because that's what it did when he was little.

I'm also getting a kick out of all his boy ornaments. I mean, I grew up in a house with all girls, so it never even crossed my mind that boys might have totally different ornaments...now in addition to the snowflakes, bears, dolls, etc. etc...we have Joe Montana throwing a pass...Jean Luc Picard standing in a transporter...and a Darth Vader with his glowing red light-saber rasping, "You are not a Jedi yet.." whenever I turn on the tree. How fun is that??

=)

Busy...

Hi everyone,
Yep, I'm still here...been crazy busy and I'll just make that my excuse for not bloggin g more. The TV pledge drive just started at work, and I'm still scrambling around trying to get all that stuff finished. If you live in SE Ohio, you'll be able to see me on WOUB TV on the 16th pitching the Daniel O'Donnell Rock and Roll Show (crossing my fingers that I do a good job and choose an outfit that looks good on camera ;) ). If you don't live in SE Ohio and want to see some of my handiwork,you can go to the Support page on WOUB.org and check out ALL the premiums that are listed there...Nope, it's not really all that exciting but it DID take an awfully long time to get together and put online.

Thankfully, it's the weekend, and I've got plans to go to knitting group at the library (which I usually sleep through but here I am, awake at 8:20 in the morning on a Saturday), the Farmers Market, and a Holiday Craft Show at the Dairy Barn Arts Center. Then, it's time to DECORATE and start doing some Christmas shopping and watch Christmas movies and bake and knit and drink hot chocolate ...

=)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday.

More fall...

More pictures from today...

Fall Colors

After thinking about it for the past month (or more...), I finally went outside this morning and took pictures of the fall leaves. It was a lot of fun (I also didn't try to bring the dog this time...callie and photography don't mix well).

I'm also excited because I just ordered a new camera battery and it should be here next week (mine has been wussing out for the past year...it'll be nice to have one that will hold a charge!) Anyway...to the pictures...




Probably more to come...