I'm Back

Guess who finally managed to hack back into her blog? This girl! Now I just need to remember my password and log in often enough that it doesn't lock me out again. And maybe, I don't know, post something occasionally

Have you heard the one about the roof?
          It'd be over your head.

New fabric

First, posting pictures from my cell phone is proving challenging. It appears to be attached somehow, but I have no clue where it is.

Second, I bought fabric for a lap blanket. There is a picture of it around here somewhere. It is to be a simple nine-patch rag quilt, but there is a possibility that it will morph into 6x6.

Now my thumbs are tired. More updates to come

Outfit post: cream cardigan

Today I wore a crinkly ankle length skirt with a tiny floral print paired with a t-shirt belted at the waist and a v-neck cardigan. I also dug out my little point-and-shoot and tested out the timer feature. It is an improvement, but the picnic table level perspective is a little off when I am standing. It is a work in progress. Without further ado, the outfit:

 And here I am seated:

Useful quote of the day:

I have found that all ugly things are made by those who strive to make something beautiful, and that all beautiful things are made by those who strive to make something useful.
-Oscar Wilde

I don't do mornings

Normally, my alarm goes off about an hour before I have to leave the house in the morning. I flail at it until it shuts up then turn on my lamp and close my eyes. It goes off again, and I again flail at it until the awful noise quits, then laboriously haul myself vaguely vertical, and sit until it goes off the third time. Then I pick it up, turn it off properly, and start to get ready for the day.

This morning, my alarm went off, and I missed it entirely. I finally reached a fuzzy sort of consciousness about 20 minutes before needing to leave. Sitting cross legged on my bed, I looked at the clock, saw the time, told myself, "20 minutes, get moving or be late to work," and proceeded to not move at all. I did make it work almost on time, but to say I was awake would be overstating the matter.

We are told that if you wake up early enough to not feel rushed and start your day on a calm and collected note, everything will go smoother. What nobody explains is how that magical thing can happen. I would love to wake up peacefully when my alarm goes off, but I sleep like a rock. I remember, as a child, waking up at the other end of the hall from my room where my sister had drug me in an effort to wake me up for school. I've slept clean through window rattling thunderstorms, tornado sirens, and earthquakes.

How do you wake up in the morning. Are there any morning challenged people who have learned to "rise and shine?" What is the secret? Please share...

Quote of the day

The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath. 
-W C Fields.

Outfit post: Navy and Grey

I have a fondness for crisp button down tops which does not mesh well with my laziness and dislike of ironing. I actually ironed this shirt a couple weeks ago though, so it was ready to be worn.

 I don't really have anything to say about this. My posture is terrible, but it's difficult to stand nicely while trying to take a picture of yourself in a giant mirror with terrible lighting while rushing to get to work on time. I need a new system. I'm feeling very negative about this picture in general, but I can't tell if it's me wanting to be asleep already, my horrid posture, or the outfit. Anyway, here it is with today's scarf selection:

Giraffes!

Shoulder not dropped so badly, but what am I doing with that hand. New photography methods must be devised.

Since it is very hard to see, the shirt is navy with shiny grey buttons, the skirt is woven of black and white threads resulting in an overall greyness, and the scarf has mustardy giraffes alternating with squares of black and white giraffe print.

Unrelated quote of the day:

Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
-Paul

For what I'm doing here, read this.

Outfit post: Polka Dot Skirt

I'm wading in to this fashion thing. Every few months I realize that my wardrobe is a difficult, unpleasant sort of beast, but I don't know what to do with it, so I quietly lapse back into not much caring what I look like. I'm tired of not caring though. I still don't care if the rest of the world thinks me pretty, but I want to have clothes that make me feel pretty, or daring, or even stunning when the mood strikes. I still don't know what to do about it though. That's where this comes in...

I'm going to be blogging an unusual sort of fashion. I will post what I'm wearing now. I will not attempt to change my ways for the sake of a blog. Each post will include the pros and cons of the outfit and individual pieces. Later, when I'm ready to clean out my closet again, I will go back over the pictures and get rid of things that don't work. Every time I try to clear out the closet, every item I own instantly becomes my favorite, so hopefully photographic evidence will provide will-power. If you have something to add to my assessments, please leave a comment. I'm clueless here.

Today's outfit:

Polka-dot silk skirt with a cream silk knit shell and a tan cotton knit cardigan. The cardigan has a matching shell, but I prefer some contrast.

The air-conditioning in my office frequently blows down the back of my neck, so I grabbed a scarf just in case-

I like this outfit overall. The tan cardigan is a good match for the dots. What bothers me about it is the wonky necklines; they're too close to be contrasted and too different to match. The scarf improves matters a bit by covering that up and by adding an accent to draw attention upward.

I'm wearing my black flats. These are the shoes I wear almost every day.

For church tonight I dressed it up with the addition of my red heels

I also had buttoned up the cardigan because I was a bit cold. My intention had been to undo it before photographing, but I'm glad I didn't because now I see that it really looks great buttoned. It has a nice shape that is lost when it is left loose. Also, now the necklines are aligned. Still, those two items don't play well together.

Shoes! These are a size too big and the toes are stuffed with tissue. I don't wear them often, but they are adorable and I should.

Quote of the day:

I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I'd think, no, actually I'm a giraffe.
Richard Gere

Another go...

So, I haven't been near this blog in a while. The sister mentioned in the last post is nearing her second anniversary and they seem to be doing well. I did finally get them a wedding gift after Christmas last year (for those of you keeping score at home, that is roughly 19 months late. I was unemployed when they got married, and so promised a raincheck). The bedroom in the previous posts is not the same room, but is still a mess, though not as bad as I remember it being at that time. I also am still writing when I should be sleeping - some things never change.

Anyway, I have been reading blogs lately. In some cases, I feel like these people, like Jenn over at Epbot, are becoming friends; however, the relationship is distinctly one sided since I haven't contributed much. Others, like Fleegle, showcase skills I can only dream of having the patience to develop. Some display adorable vintage clothing, or have a fierce sense of humor, or just talk freely about things I'm frightened to express.

Over the past three days or so, I've been forced to re-evaluate a long held assumption about myself and my body image. I've added many (many, many) blogs about body image to the list. I've also had a couple of conversations with friends. And I've come to a conclusion - I am every bit as interesting as anyone else on the internet. My blogging has always been a bit slow because I wanted to make sure that the posts would be interesting to someone else, or the topics were relevant to something, or fit a theme. But I have interests; they are my interests, and I should write about them. I will never find anyone who shares these interests if I keep them secret, waiting for someone to pry them out. Same thing goes for opinions.

I'm spastic and ADD. I'm inconsistent. I'm creative in crazy ways. I don't follow directions. I have brilliant, hare-brained ideas which become laughable by the light of day - or occasionally actually work. I am socially awkward. I am an interesting person who can make a valuable contribution the internet, someone's life, the world, but only if I put myself out there.

Yippee

I finally managed to get into my blogger account. Unfortunately, I leave for my sister's wedding in approximately 38 hours, and not only have I not packed, I still have to make part of my outfit. So, a real post this will not be.

Hello world

Unfortunately, my room is worse than ever - thus the lack of updates in that department. But there are a lot of good things happening in my life right now.

Number one: I have a decent idea of what I want to do with my life. I was sitting in class one day, and one of the vague notions that have been flitting around in my head solidified and focused. Now I just have to convince someone that they want to pay me to do it.

My grandmother is celebrating her 90th birthday, and I get to be there. The being there part is not as easy as it sounds, but we're talking about good things at the moment.

I'm probably going to get to have my grandfather's 95 year old cousin, who is one of the most amazing people ever, all to myself in the backseat on the long car ride home.

My folks are doing really well in the new city - settling in, making friends, and enjoying the lovely weather and the trees.

My younger sisters are both being civil - even friendly - toward me.

I've managed to finish a couple of sewing projects. It is always a good feeling to put something together, finish it, and then be able to handle the finished project and see what was done. It's nice when the abstractness of school starts to get to me.

I can make notes on my flute. I can't make very many in a row without my lungs seizing up, but it's coming. Baby steps...

After the terrible scare I had, and then the freaking out about having to make up for two missed weeks of class, I think I'll be alright in all of my classes this quarter.

Goodnight world

The time has come

to get my act together.

I'm messy by nature. However, I also like things orderly. These two aspects of my personality, predictably, clash. Unfortunately, the messy part currently has declared victory, moved in, and completely taken over in my bedroom. This has huge effects on the rest of my life. I'm constantly scattered, have a hard time finding things, usually end up rushed, and never have time to do anything. I'm frankly sick of it. So, I will be getting my bedroom, and my life, in order. It won't be easy, but over the next couple of months I will do it one step at a time.

Ah, the blog...

It seems like such a good idea, but then real life interferes. I've managed to not post for three whole months. My spidy sense tells me that this is not the way to develop a readership and become part of the community. Oh well, I'm a loner in life, why not in blog too.

And, as usual, I'm writing when I should be sleeping. It's only the first week of classes - far to early to get into the hard-core sleep deprivation that seems to be a required part of college life.

So much has changed in my life in those three months. Much of it, I can't talk about. Some is just so messy it doesn't need to see the light of day. Other is not mine to discuss. And some I would like to talk about but can't find words. The last is making me tear up saying that much about it. I'll just state it in my blunt fashion and if words decide to come...

My best friend's mother passed away just a few days ago. She was one of the most awesome ladies I've had the pleasure of knowing.

I can't


Goodnight

The truth about the marmalade

It was so easy to make that I can't for the life of me figure out how to write a whole post about it. Even worse, I don't actually like marmalade (any marmalade), so I can't even rave about how tasty it is to fill space. Even canning is remarkably easy - pour the stuff in jars, plop the lids on, and chuck the whole thing in boiling water for ten minutes. So, for those of you who must know:

Nearly 30 minutes were spent slicing lemons very thin. A thumb was lightly sliced; acid got in; it was highly painful. The lemons were chucked into a cauldron (that word is so much more interesting than "large pot" don't you think?) along with a little water, a lot of sugar, and some honey (go here for the recipe). This was boiled violently (I'm like PW that way) for some time before being put in jars and processed. Yield was 8 pint jars and half of another one.

If anyone other than my sister reads this, I could have a giveaway. She'll probably get a jar anyway. Whether she wants it or not Mhua-ha-ha-h... nevermind

To make this seem more like a whole post, I give you...

The rodeo carrot jockey from Cake Wreck's cupcake replica contest.

We now return to our regularly scheduled lives. Perhaps having gotten this off my chest I'll be able to post something else soonish.

A Short Auto-Biography

The funny thing about blogging is that when I'm not doing it, subjects, ideas for posts, and inspiration to write abound. However, just as soon as I decide to start doing it again, I can't remember what any of them are, and nothing new presents itself. So, today, while I sit here listening to Christmas music on Pandora, I'm going to tell you about me. Please ask any questions you may have.

I am a twenty something student at a relatively well-known state university. My major is in environmental science with an emphasis in natural science. I start back to school in a week and a half and will graduate with my BA in June.
I am fully convinced that September is a good time to start listening to Christmas music occasionally at home, but get ticked off when faced with Christmas decorations and music 24/7 in every store on the first of November. Wait until after Thanksgiving at least.
Some people would characterize me as deeply religious, but I don't like to classify myself that way for reasons that are way too complex to delve into at the moment. That said, I am a christian in the trying to be Christ-like sense of the word even though I don't like the culturally prevalent sense of the word.
When school starts I will be taking 17 units and working 2 jobs. This is fairly normal because I find that if I do not over commit myself, I slack off and get less done. Chances are good that I'll write something about both jobs and the classes at some point. For now I'll tell you that I'm taking intro. to soil science, water resources, principles and applications of bioremediation, and elementary French. The only one I'm really nervous about is French. I work as a sales associate at a well-known chain and will be grading for the environmental economics class.
I own (well, the bank does) a third of a small house where my sister and I live during school. We bought the place because we couldn't afford apartment rents at places that would allow the dog. That's the housing bust for you. Unfortunately, our air conditioner is not working so it is currently 90 degrees in here. I'll open the windows as soon as the sun goes down and it isn't even hotter outside.
Meanwhile, I'm going to go pretend the bathtub is a swimming pool.

Oh, the marmalade is made. It is very marmalade like. I shall tell you more about it soon.

Lemon Marmalade

My parents just returned from a quick trip north and brought me a lovely surprise. A whole bag of lemons from my grandmother's tree. I'm going to make and can lemon marmalade.

This should be a bit of an adventure. I've never canned anything before and certainly never made jelly. It should be exciting though. I've been on a bit of a domestic kick lately.

Further updates as events progress. I'll try to take pictures. Nevermind, my camera is at other-home, so I can't. Instead I'll try to find pictures I can pirate.



Photo Credit: My sister, Blessed, at A Blessed Crazy Life

Grace

As a teenager, my family often called me Grace. They were mocking. I was anything but graceful. I was clumsy and awkward. Like many teenagers, I tripped over my own feet, ran into walls, dropped half the things I touched and was generally a walking disaster.

I'm no longer a teenager, but I am still not graceful. I'm awkward and clumsy, though not to the same degree as then. But more than that, I'm selfish and impatient. I can be demanding and sarcastic. I've learned to put on a good front and keep the snide remarks internal, but that is not grace.

However, my life is a many years long example of God's grace at work. I strive to be what God wants me to be and that includes being graceful, maybe not physically, but in my actions and interactions with others.

For these reasons, I have selected Grace as my display name.

The story behind my blog title and url is a little more complicated; it involves late nights, sleep deprivation, much laughter, and a simple statement that got taken far beyond it's original meaning. Perhaps one day I'll tell it, but not tonight.