- Make one scrapbook- no
- Start and finish a sweater- finished!
- Make a color work project- no
- Knit Nana and Grandad socks- started Nana's socks
- Finish or frog all 2010 knitting projects- no
- Make a felt advent calendar- no
- Work out 111 times-worked out 8 times. I need to learn to exercise while I'm home.
- Lose 11% of my body weight- I'm still at square one on this.
- Learn to walk in high heels- practiced for a couple of days.
- Prepare an academic paper for submission to a journal- submitted another draft
- Read 11 non-school books by different authors- finished!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
2011 Goals- November Recap
I know in November many people in the blogosphere challenged themselves to post every day. I apparently took the opposite approach and did not post at all. I honestly have no idea where the month went (again). My goal progress also shows this. I think next year, instead of having 12 goals, I am only going to have six. Then I can really focus on making them happen. I will think more about that this month.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
2011 Goals- October Recap
Only two more months to go, I can't believe it!
- Make one scrapbook- no
- Start and finish a sweater- finished!
- Make a color work project- no
- Knit Nana and Grandad socks- no
- Finish or frog all 2010 knitting projects- worked on my last remaining one
- Make a felt advent calendar- no
- Work out 111 times-worked out 12 times- much better than the last few months!
- Lose 11% of my body weight- I'm still at square one on this.
- Learn to walk in high heels- practiced for a couple of days.
- Prepare an academic paper for submission to a journal- working on another draft.
- Read 11 non-school books by different authors- finished!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wedding Planning, Part 1
Warning: This is a wedding related post. I do not know how often I will do these, but I will try to make them clear in the title, so if you are not interested in weddings, feel free to skip them.
Second Warning: I think this is going to be a fairly long, photo-free post.
Mr. DB and I have been engaged for about six weeks. In some ways, I feel like we have made no progress on wedding plans. We do not have a date, location, color scheme, vendors, etc. etc. On the other hand, I do feel like I have a much better idea of what I want. Pinterest has been really helpful that way. Take for example my Wedding Ideas board. In the beginning, I was posting a lot of rustic pictures, barns, light colors, outdoor ceremonies... Then I realized, I do not like the outdoors! I do not like pastel colors! Mr. DB and I have never been to a barn together unless you count the Cornell Graduate Student Center. That is not the type of wedding we want to have. As I figure out what we do not want, I am starting to get a better idea of what we do want- an urban feel, exposed brick or stone, wood, warm inviting atmosphere, saturated color, a little vintage flair but still modern. So I guess we have made more progress than I think we have.
What is frustrating me is that we do not have any of the big things figured out. Mr. DB still lives in another state. We are not sure if we want to have our wedding here (expensive) or in one of our home states. We have eliminated our beloved Ithaca because it is so hard to get to for our guests. We are sort of at a standstill until we can visit venues during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. I know I will feel so much better once we have a location and can start hiring the major vendors such as catering and photography.
Then there is the date. Can you believe that 2013 is already filling up for my family? Mr. DB's family is from Wisconsin and I would be devastated if they were not able to attend the wedding, so snowy months are out in case there was a blizzard or something and they could not travel. We cannot do it too late in the summer or fall because of our work schedules. Mr. DB and my brother are both graduating in May. My uncle is having his Coast Guard retirement party in April. See the problem? I am not such a huge fan of summer weddings when it will be really hot, but I do not know if we have another choice.
I am just going to say this: Wedding planning sucks. That's right, it SUCKS. You are spending an insane amount of money for one day. You and your partner have expectations and wants you did not even know you had. Ever thought about corsages or envelope shapes before? I bet you will find you have opinions on them the second you start planning a wedding. Then add in family expectations (real or imagined) and it gets very messy. I keep having to remind myself to think of all my married friends and family members. Most of them did not elope and still lived to tell the tale. We can do this.
I was thinking about all this as I was walking to the Metro after class tonight with a classmate. He asked me how wedding planning was going and I am sure he got way more than he bargained for. At one point, I told him how Mr. DB and I had been talking about centerpieces last night. I said "Centerpieces. Do you know what I never thought about in my life before? Centerpieces." The absurdity of the whole process hit me. My friend and his wife got married a few years ago, and he told me that it is hard. You are making all sorts of decisions. But in the end, you have to remember that your family and friends are there to have a good time because they love you. It all works out ok somehow. I have heard that before, but somehow hearing it from him, not on a blog, not from Mr. DB, but from a friend who has been through this fairly recently helped me put it all into perspective.
Yes, wedding planning sucks. If I did not care about centerpieces until six weeks ago, why should I let it take up so much of my emotional energy now? In the end, our family and friends will not care, and something will be on the tables. I just have to keep reminding myself that.
Second Warning: I think this is going to be a fairly long, photo-free post.
Mr. DB and I have been engaged for about six weeks. In some ways, I feel like we have made no progress on wedding plans. We do not have a date, location, color scheme, vendors, etc. etc. On the other hand, I do feel like I have a much better idea of what I want. Pinterest has been really helpful that way. Take for example my Wedding Ideas board. In the beginning, I was posting a lot of rustic pictures, barns, light colors, outdoor ceremonies... Then I realized, I do not like the outdoors! I do not like pastel colors! Mr. DB and I have never been to a barn together unless you count the Cornell Graduate Student Center. That is not the type of wedding we want to have. As I figure out what we do not want, I am starting to get a better idea of what we do want- an urban feel, exposed brick or stone, wood, warm inviting atmosphere, saturated color, a little vintage flair but still modern. So I guess we have made more progress than I think we have.
What is frustrating me is that we do not have any of the big things figured out. Mr. DB still lives in another state. We are not sure if we want to have our wedding here (expensive) or in one of our home states. We have eliminated our beloved Ithaca because it is so hard to get to for our guests. We are sort of at a standstill until we can visit venues during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. I know I will feel so much better once we have a location and can start hiring the major vendors such as catering and photography.
Then there is the date. Can you believe that 2013 is already filling up for my family? Mr. DB's family is from Wisconsin and I would be devastated if they were not able to attend the wedding, so snowy months are out in case there was a blizzard or something and they could not travel. We cannot do it too late in the summer or fall because of our work schedules. Mr. DB and my brother are both graduating in May. My uncle is having his Coast Guard retirement party in April. See the problem? I am not such a huge fan of summer weddings when it will be really hot, but I do not know if we have another choice.
I am just going to say this: Wedding planning sucks. That's right, it SUCKS. You are spending an insane amount of money for one day. You and your partner have expectations and wants you did not even know you had. Ever thought about corsages or envelope shapes before? I bet you will find you have opinions on them the second you start planning a wedding. Then add in family expectations (real or imagined) and it gets very messy. I keep having to remind myself to think of all my married friends and family members. Most of them did not elope and still lived to tell the tale. We can do this.
I was thinking about all this as I was walking to the Metro after class tonight with a classmate. He asked me how wedding planning was going and I am sure he got way more than he bargained for. At one point, I told him how Mr. DB and I had been talking about centerpieces last night. I said "Centerpieces. Do you know what I never thought about in my life before? Centerpieces." The absurdity of the whole process hit me. My friend and his wife got married a few years ago, and he told me that it is hard. You are making all sorts of decisions. But in the end, you have to remember that your family and friends are there to have a good time because they love you. It all works out ok somehow. I have heard that before, but somehow hearing it from him, not on a blog, not from Mr. DB, but from a friend who has been through this fairly recently helped me put it all into perspective.
Yes, wedding planning sucks. If I did not care about centerpieces until six weeks ago, why should I let it take up so much of my emotional energy now? In the end, our family and friends will not care, and something will be on the tables. I just have to keep reminding myself that.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Striped Vanilla Socks
Yarn: Studio Avenue Six Self Striping Sock Yarn in 186 2 DK Pink, 4 Purple
Needle: size 1.5 circular
Date Started: July 16, 2011
Date Finished: October 25, 2011
Comments:I started these over the summer and just got around to finishing the second sock. My first afterthought heel. I like that it means I can keep knitting without stopping for the heel flap and decreases. I do not think the fit is as good though because it is hard to guess the length. A fun experiment, but I think I will stick with my usual heel flap.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Blog overload?
Is it just me, or does it seem like bloggers are posting a little less than usual lately? I know I sure am. I am not quite sure if it is the change of seasons and weather, the start of the school year, anticipation of the holiday season, or what. I for one just haven't been knitting much. After all the Camp Loopy stuff, I needed a break, and now I do not have any projects that really interest me. I want to finish all my WIPs, and I want to knit two pairs of socks for Christmas, but I just cannot motivate myself. Maybe I should start a fun project this weekend to get my knitting (and blogging) mojo back.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
2011 Goals- September Recap
So how did September go? Mildly better than August. My excuse though is that I got caught up in getting engaged. I now have new incentive to work on my exercise, weight, and walking in heels goals.
- Make one scrapbook- no
- Start and finish a sweater- yes!
- Make a color work project- no
- Knit Nana and Grandad socks- no
- Finish or frog all 2010 knitting projects- still one left.
- Make a felt advent calendar- no
- Work out 111 times-worked out 7 times
- Lose 11% of my body weight- I'm still at square one on this.
- Learn to walk in high heels- forgot about this, again
- Prepare an academic paper for submission to a journal- holding pattern. My Professor presented the paper at a conference.
- Read 11 non-school books by different authors- finished!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Camp Loopy Project 3
I'm so proud of myself - I finished all my Camp Loopy projects! The third challenge was to make something using 800 yards of yarn. I decided to make the Loretto Vest. Even though for my size, it was supposed to take over 800 yards, I had to add sleeves to make sure I reached the cutoff. I think it looks cute this way.
Pattern: Loretto Vest by Cassie Castillo
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Nectarine
Needle: size 7 circular
Date Started: August 21, 2011
Date Finished: September 15, 2011
Comments: Fun project. I still need to block it, and I'm sure once I do, the yarn will bloom and it will grow to a better length. Fenway wanted to help me take pictures:
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Nectarine
Needle: size 7 circular
Date Started: August 21, 2011
Date Finished: September 15, 2011
Comments: Fun project. I still need to block it, and I'm sure once I do, the yarn will bloom and it will grow to a better length. Fenway wanted to help me take pictures:
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