So Long, 2011!!

As the year comes to an end I would like to do a recap of my year. Yes, Sarah, I'm a copy cat. I haven't blogged in about 6 months, but I have a good excuse... REALLY I do!! So here goes...

This year I stepped out of my shell a bit and not only learned to crochet using graphs as patterns, but I also wrote my first 2 patterns. The first one that I wrote was for the Seahawks blanket I made for my nephew, Noah. 

This pattern has been on Ravelry.com for sale for almost a year and so far about 6 people have bought it. 

The other pattern I wrote and have for sale on Ravelry is this pot holder pattern. Its sold a few. 

I'm not sure how many of my 13 followers remember, but I work as an in-home caregiver. In March I had to deal with my first loss. Losing Joyce was hard and I still think of her often. She made me think and taught me so much. I miss her dearly. 

During the month of April I spent a lot of time sitting on the edge of my seat excited for my sisters visit at the end of the month. I drove to Seattle on May 1st to pick her and her husband up. I made plans with Josh's sisters to meet at BJ's for dinner to kill some time before my sisters flight was in. After sitting down and greeting Josh's sisters I looked up at the TV and saw that Osama Bin Laden was FINALLY killed. 

Such a wonderful way to make my mood even better.

Sarah and her husband spent 3 days here and we had a great time. Lots of family, food, and fun. Sarah and I even had a surprise birthday party on her last day here. It was the first time we celebrated our birthday together in 7 years. 

The sign I made and took with me to SeaTac.

Sarah took a picture of me waiting for them. I guess I looked RIGHT at her and STILL didn't see her. lol

Sarah and I at IHOP.

Our Birthday cake.

Both of us crying after the surprise was revealed.

June was pretty uneventful. Except I started working as a caregiver again. I have been working with that company for 6 months. 

In July I lost one of my aunts. I actually had met her for the first time that I can remember in December of 2010. She was such a sweet woman. I wish I had more time to get to know her. 

And then there is August. That month was CRAZY!! I had my bridal shower on the 13th, a party on the 24th,  rehearsal on the 27th, and my wedding on the 28th.

We had 150 mini cupcakes for our wedding cake.

My cousin Kassie's daughter, Jayda, was one of my 2 flower girls.

Me and my mom. I was in such a rush to get to the church that I forgot my earrings at home. So I ended up wearing Kassie's earrings, my Granny's pearl necklace, and my Aunt Karen's bracelet that Kassie's says Aunt Karen wore on her wedding day. 

My son, Nathaniel, was our ring bearer. He was so HANDSOME in his tux. I almost cried when I first saw him. lol

Dad and I had reversed rolls while walking down the aisle. Normally its the father that has to talk his daughter down the aisle... not for us. I had to talk him down it. We talked, joked, and laughed the whole time. 

Me and my husband, Josh.

The following are some of my favorite pictures.

My mom got Josh and I a room on the Newport Belle for our honeymoon. We had a blast down there visiting light houses, going the the aquarium, Ripley's, Wax Works. Under Sea Gardens. Our last night there we went to Local Ocean for dinner and had a wonderful time. The food was great and so was our server. 

On September 26th I started school at Clark College here in Vancouver. It has been an interesting experience going back to school. But I love it. I am currently on winter break and am eager for the new term to start on January 9th. 

October was pretty uneventful. Except for me having to call dad to come pick me up from a bar in Longview because I lost my keys. How pathetic is that... the first time I call one of my parents to pick me up from a bar I am totally sober. lol

Nathaniel's first Halloween back in 2009 we dressed him as a lion. And then in 2010 Josh's mom got him a tiger costume. So this year we decided we HAD to dress him as a bear. Here are pictures from all 3 Halloweens.

Lions, tigers, and bears... OH MY!!

November was a crazy month too. Trying to study and get ready for finals, Thanksgiving, and starting projects for Nathaniel's birthday.

December Nathaniel turned 3. We had a party for him on the 18th where he got to open the gifts I made for him.

This blanket I made from a graph. Took me a few weeks and Nathaniel loves Mickey.

His pillow only took me a couple days.

Josh's sisters and mom make Nathaniel's birthday cake every year. This year his party was Mickey Mouse themed. They did an awesome job on his cake. 

Now here we are the day before the last day of the year and I don't expect anything spectacular to happen in the next 34ish hours. Josh works tomorrow and I plan to sit here on my couch watching Criminal Minds. 

Happy New Year everyone!! Be safe and enjoy!!

Been Busy...

I recently started working again as a caregiver and FINALLY feel like a normal person again. I'm not working many hours, but I get the pleasure of taking care of people and coming home feeling like I've made a difference.

June 30th I got a call from my dad telling me that my Aunt Karen was in the hospital and it wasn't looking good. My cousin Kassie texted me and said she needed me. So I drove up to Longview and was there until my aunt took her last breath around 2am. I feel so blessed to have been a part of her life even though it was just a TINY bit of time.

I'm still working on wedding stuff. 42 more days lol. Oh how I wish I could post pictures of my wedding dress right now. lol 

And I've also become an Auntie again. My little sister had her baby girl on July 5th. She is super cute and has her moms orange-red hair. 

Here are a few of the crochet projects I've done recently.

This is a baby blanket that I worked from corner to corner rather then side to side... interesting, but I'm not sure I'll do it again. It has a green edge too.

This is a baby dress and bonnet I found in this shop on Etsy.com. The diaper cover is of my own creation... I might write up a pattern some day.

This is another baby blanket I'm working on. I found it on Ravelry.com, but you can find the pattern here. I had trouble with the pattern when I made my first blanket with it. If you need help figuring it out please let me know.

Delusional Knitter is having a giveaway to celebrate the grand opening of her yarn shop on etsy! To enter... go here... I already know which one I want!

Good Luck!!!

FlashBack Friday: The "Dads" in My Life

With Fathers Day this Sunday I thought it would be nice to blog about those guys rather then my crochet and stuff. lol So to start with I'm going to tell you a little bit about my dad.

This is my dad with me and Sarah when we were I think about 6 years old. It was Christmas, and as usual we were at Granny and Popa's house. That's their fire place that we are sitting in front of.

Anywho, my dad... God, I'm not even sure where to start. lol! He is one of my very best friends, he listens to me no matter what is falling out of my mouth literally... half the time words just fall out before I can even think about not saying them, he isn't afraid to tell me how things are, and he loves... he loves more and stronger then anyone I've ever met. He does the best he can with what he has and has taught his children to do the same. One other thing he taught me is that no matter what, he will ALWAYS come back. He told us that EVERY time he went to work, out with friends, on trips, and any other time he had to leave us for any length of time. And you know what? We believed and trusted that he would. So far he has stuck to his word. I've learned that it is important to tell your children that you will come back, you WILL be there, and that no matter what you love them and would rather be no where else in the world then right by their side.

This is me and Sarah with our Popa... and I am giggling now cause I've looked at this one and the one of us with dad a thousand times and I'm just realizing that these were taken on the same day.

Popa is a hard subject for me. Mainly because my memory from before I was 17 is rather foggy to put it lightly. Also, because I don't have many memories of him being that nice loving grandfather that most people have. I do, however, trust my heart and I can tell you that my heart shattered the day he died. I can remember him being in the hospital and visiting hours were over at 8pm, but if your family was in "that situation" they would let you visit more. I would leave Granny and Popa's house in the middle of the night and just go sit with him. I would bring a crochet project and just sit there crocheting listening to him breathe. I couldn't bear to let him be alone. Based on that, I know that he loved me. Its been 6 and a half years almost and I miss him terribly.

And last, but most certainly not least... Josh. This is him and Nathaniel when Nathaniel was just a few weeks old. They used to take naps together ALL the time. Josh has been an amazing dad to Nathaniel. I couldn't have asked for a better father to my son. I remember when I took the pregnancy test and it was positive. I woke Josh up and told him. He smiled BIG and said "I'm gonna be a daddy!"

So there ya go, prolly not the best Flashback, but its what was on my mind. And just in case I don't have time to post on Sunday

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!

GIVE AWAY!!

My sister, Sarah, over at Crochet by Sarah is having her first give away. Head on over and enter!!

Sarah's Give Away

Happy Birthday!!

In 1 hour and 20 minutes my sister, Sarah and I will be 27 years old! Sorry I don't have a pretty font or anything... I'm posting this from my phone.

Changes

After being unemployed for 6 months I have finally gotten a job. On Wednesday I went in to meet with Josh's boos to see about doing some temp work for a couple weeks to help them through this MASSIVE slam of uncovered shifts they have. I not only got the temp work, but they also asked me to stay on part time and on-call. Now, anyone who knows me knows that going back to security was not something I ever wanted to do. But I am thankful that I get the chance to help with my family now. 


So far I have worked 2 shifts and both of them have bee very interesting. My first shift I got about an hour into it and just wanted to die. LOL!! I didn't realize how out of shape I am. Being on the couch for 6 months really messed me up. I was pretty emotional that night too. I felt like I did the first night I went back to work after having Nathaniel. I was a mess.


The second night, last night, was amusing. I was walking through this grassy area looking at the windows of the building and stepped in a hole that I knew was there and twisted my ankle. I spent the rest of my shift limping. A few hours later I went back to my car to add more to my shift report and realized that I locked my keys in my car. Thankfully Josh was working and was able to come let me in my car. 


Anywho, Just wanted to give a little update on whats going on with me. I am going to be testing a pattern that my sister wrote soon, maybe I'll blog about it. Night!!