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November 2014

today I'm thankful for...

-  Jesus Christ my Savior who died for me and you

-  my husband who takes care of me and provides for me

-  my family and friends who support and love me

-  beautiful sunshine that feeds my soul

-  having plenty to eat and to share 

-  my health

-  my animals, Roscoe, Sally, Kitten, and the Bock-bocks (chickens)

 


knitting lessons learned part 1

Y’all!  I finished my first knitting project that was not a scarf!  Ah!  Lol.  Ok, so backstory:  Ten years ago, my friend came home from camp and she had learned how to knit, so of course, we all had to learn to knit!  It was fun!  But that also means I have been straight knitting(with some purling) for like, ten years.  And all I have ever made is scarves because those are the easiest to me!  So, a year ago my cousin, Ginny, asked me if I could knit her one of those knit headbands and naturally I was like, yeah!  I know the perfect yarn too!  And then promptly began.  Then pulled it out.  Then began again. Then pulled it out.  This has repeated for like, a year.   IMG_2200IMG_2210IMG_0971IMG_0966
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Then for some reason this year my fingers have found my needles again and all I want to do is knit!  I found this stitch called “brioche knit” and fell in love.  When I went to the eye doctor a few days later I took my knitting and began on the head band for the final time!  I finished it this past Saturday and y’all, I was so dang excited! I even sewed the ends together since I didn’t knit in the round and was so proud of myself! You can see in that last picture where I joined the two ends.  I immediately took a picture sent it to Ginny and asked if she still wanted it (she did).  So yay!  Now to finish something else!   IMG_2265IMG_2388First, look at the colors on that blanket in the first picture!  I didn't realize how pretty there were! haha.  I’ve been working on this very large scarf, lap blanket, shawl, thing that I’m not sure what I want it to be.  I found the yarn in the sale bin at Wal-Mart.  It is some of the softest yarn I’ve ever used and only cost $1.50 and for some reason unknown to my conscious mind I only bought one skein instead of every skein I could find.  When I returned, I found only one other skein.  Sadness!  I have started and restarted this one about twenty times, too.  I switched from straight needles (in the first picture) to circular needles (in the second picture) once I realized that it was easier for a large piece of knitting to be on circular needles.  And that I didn’t have to knit in a circle just because I was using circular needles!  I know that sounds crazy, but you know how sometimes you get caught up in what things are supposed to be used for and forget that you can use them in other ways.  

Anyways, I feel like I have learned a lot a lot by just finishing this project!  And then I watched a knitting video on YouTube and my mind was blown.  Oops.  But that still does not diminish the project I completed!  I feel like I needed those ten years of just knitting straight knit to get to the point where I’m comfortable enough to try more.  So that's how I'm looking at how long it has taken me to get past straight stitch!  I predict I will be stuck on brioche knit for a good little while now.

On a different note, I think it is so cool how it seems like several of my friends or people I simply know of are knitting and/or crocheting.  Last weekend Faith, Autumn, and Kendall came over to my house and although Kendall didn't do any stitching, us three girls did!  We have all begun stitching more frequently it seems even though none of us discussed it with the others.  Even in the blogging world, it seems that there has been an explosion of knitting among bloggers who do not specialize in this craft.

I began this post thinking it would be a quick write up and just post it out there and be done. But the more I thought and typed, the more I realized I had more to say about knitting. So I believe I am gonna split this into two posts.  Thanks for reading!


Friday nights are for family

Ok y'all so a few eekgs ago when I was looking through all of my pictures from the last eight or so years, I noticed that there was a difference in the picutres I have taken recently and the ones from three or more years ago.  Before I say this, and hopefully y'all won't judge me too much, I just want to remind y'all I am not a photographer.  I just am a girl who likes to take pictures of things she loves.  But, there is a big difference between the pictures I have taken with my iPhone and the pictures taken with my digital camera.  I mean, obviously, I knew that there would be some kind of difference.  Just like, not as big a difference as I realized.  Maybe it was because I made a gradual change from using my iPhone solely for my pictures that I didn't realize the difference. I mean, in my opinion a digital picture is a digital picture is a digital picture.

Well, after seeing how much of a difference there was between the pictures taken with my phone and digital camera, I've been trying to to make conscious effort to use my digital camer more.  In reality, this has resulted in less pictures.  Which is possibly a good thing because I feel like I'm becoming overwhelmed with all the pictures I was getting.  But I'm sure you can relate to how well it is to take like, twenty pictures of the same thing with a smartphone!  On a Friday night a few weeks ago, we all gathered together at my mother-in-law's house and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take more pictures and a good way to remember our get-togethers :)

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Faith and Brandon
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Kevin and Mrs. Gina
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Kevin and Mimaw Betty
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Mrs. Gina and Kendall being silly
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coffee drinkin'
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Eli

 


jude 22

"And of some have compassion, making a difference:"

Compassion is something that I have been thinking of more often lately.  It can be hard to show compassion in our world especially when people are so self-absorbed and can cause you hurt.  This verse jumped out at me Sunday night when Bro. Darrin first read through them.  It is a small simple sentence that holds a whole lot of meaning.  I had just said something similar to this to Mrs. Gina the previous Friday night when we were discussing that sometimes people just need you to be nice to them.

My prayer is that I can continue to grow in compassion, extending it to people I know and strangers I see around town.  Like the verse says, it makes a difference.  Maybe not right away, maybe not a big difference, but this lesson is a repeating occurence in story after story, movie after movie.  All it takes is a kind word, mercy shown, and then it spreads.  So although I may sometimes fail, I will show compassion because of the compassion that was extended to me by my Lord.  Mostly I will show compassion because I was told to do so through the Word. Compassion
http://hecallsmelovely.tumblr.com/post/94268001639/http-instagram-com-brittzy

 


my mini-garden

For the past two years I have constantly said I'm going to have a garden but never really got past the talking about it stage.  I just keep putting it off because either I'm overwhelmed, I'm not sure what to do so I just get stuck in a planning rut, or just plain not doing it.  That being said, in August my friend Jessica gave me some of her extra seedlings she never used.  Around this time, I made my chicken coop smaller which created the perfect spot for these seedlings!  

They were so pitiful when she gave them to me, they were extras that she hadn't had room for so they had just been sitting out in her yard.  I planted the tomatoes first, and then decided to plant the jalapenos too!  I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but I thought why not.  Here is how they looked when I planted them: IMG_1283 IMG_1285 IMG_1323

Fast forward a few months and they are doing great!  Oh my, the jalapenos!  I am constantly picking them, and when I don't get to them in time, the dogs take care of them for me.    Sally will actually go and pull them off the plant herself and even bring one to Roscoe.  They are the silliest puppies.  The tomatoes are taking longer to ripen but they are still going good even though we have had temperatures down in the 40's and 30's.   IMG_1972 IMG_0946 IMG_0948 IMG_0953 IMG_0945 IMG_0947 IMG_1957

I've learned a little bit from this little garden that I randomly started.  For starters, I now understand why spacing is soooo important.  Any experienced gardener would probably cringe at my tomato plants that overwhelmed their cages so much that they are just laying on the ground or see my pepper plants practically buried beneath a flowering bush. Honestly I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't expect quite the growth that I got from my plants.  IMG_0950

It's just too much, don't you think?  But to me the important thing was, I did it.  I get so caught up in the planning of something that often I don't get started unless I just jump in and just do it.  Oh and that purple flowering bush on the left side?  It started out really, really bad. Kinda like this... IMG_1289

I know!  Y'all can't even see that there are purple blooms on it.  Here it is now, so much better: IMG_0940

Next year is the year of the garden.  Now that I've had a little taste of growing my own food I'm determined.  It's so good and flavorful!  My in-laws always have done a garden and I'd love to have one also!  I know I've still got a little time to go but it can't hurt to dream, right?


I Heart Weekends

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For the past couple of years, I can't recall a time when I actually had the thought that I love the weekend.  To me, I never thought anything special of these two days.  Maybe because they were just another day to me.  I am busy every day.  I have things that I have to do and things that I know that I want to do so I do them when I can.  Saturday was just another day to work, even if it wasn't at Stringer's.

I don't really know what has changed these past few months, but I adore the weekends!  The weekends are mine and Kevin's time together.  They start off slow: going to Nana's for Friday night dinner and just hanging out there.  Waking up Saturday morning is also slow, early for me, late for him.  Multiple cups of coffee, washing some clothes, cuddling with the dogs...it's just best.  We spend the whole day with ourselves and whoever drops by.  Sunday comes with dressing up, spending time worshipping and learning more about God, Sunday lunch.

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Although Kevin is at work, this weekend was no exception.  I did some yard work, spent time with my dogs, got on a knitting kick, and had a wonderful Sunday with my church family.  Saturday is still just another day of the week, but it's more than that now.  It's the day where mornings last until noon and the afternoons can last all day. :)


jalapeno poppers and healthy friendships :]

This past weekend I had a taste of some very delicious jalapeno poppers that were made by my brother-in-law's girlfriend and my friend, Autumn.  At first I was skeptical because I was unsure if I liked jalapenos enough to eat a whole one, but the taste of the bacon and cream cheese with the tangy jalapeno was amazing!  I've been growing jalapenos in my little garden with no idea of what to do with them but now I definitely have plans!

Eating those delicious treats and just seeing how much Autumn enjoys making food inspired me to begin cooking again.  I feel like I have been leaning toward doing this for several weeks now but it was like it tok this one last push to get me going.  Sunday evening I cooked some crabmeat wontons and made shrimp etouffe.  It was a lot of work cleaning up afterwards, but I've been attempting to take pre-cleaning steps before I cook, which I think is totally worth it.

It got me thinking, tho, having friends who encourge, inpire, and lift me up is pretty much the best.  Even if they don't even know they do those things for me, which makes it even better.  My closest friends give me encouragement and suppport for the things I do and this helps keep me motivated.  

My girlfriends encourage me to be a better me.  I feel inspired and uplifted when I can talk to them about exercising or cooking or creating and they can respond in ways that we encourage each other and leave each other happy after our conversation.  I have had friends who do nothing for me or sometimes even the opposite and it can be incredibly draining.  We were created to lift each other up and encourage each other.