Act Well Your Part

#99

2011-01-06T21:58:00.000-06:00

A Partially Handmade Christmas

2010-12-28T21:31:00.001-06:00

I decided to attempt a handmade Christmas this year. It was quite a challenge, since I made this decision in October. Here are the projects I was able to finish and give as gifts. Hopefully next year will be even more crafty! Any requests?

The pirate panda.

A Packers lap blanket, for use during the game next weekend. I also made a Bears one, but that one isn't allowed to travel.

A simple blanket for the family grab bag gift exchange.

Rice bags for the ladies at work. I also made one from scrap Packer fabric and some little ones for my daughter who always needs an ice pack at bedtime.

Also, a peace sign pillow for my daughter. She told me she is "going through a peace sign phase" so I thought she might enjoy this. She loves it.

#75 and what we've been doing this Christmas season

2010-12-07T22:51:00.001-06:00

First things first. I didn't eat fast food for the entire month of November. It was very difficult, but not impossible. The roughest part was not having as many options for lunch when we were out working on our Christmas shopping. It was a great idea, and saved quite a bit of money, but I wouldn't recommend doing it in November.

Now for what we have been doing this Holiday Season. The local theatre troupe did Willy Wonka for the children's theatre production. I volunteered to make parts of Willy Wonka's costume.

We found this fun craft idea here
http://www.onepearlbutton.com/2010/11/tutorial-faux-gilded-votive-cups-with.html
Still have to finish up and see how they look, but even if they don't turn out as great as I would like, we had a great time making them.

A school group was selling fruit as a fund raiser, so I got a bunch of apples. I turned most of them into apple butter! I found the recipe here
http://dreamhomediy.blogspot.com/2010/11/crockpot-apple-butter.html
It is delicious!!!

Lastly, I found a Christmas stocking kit for $1 at a garage sale a couple of summers ago. I worked on the stitching this summer and finally finished it this weekend! It's fully lined and it turned out great!

21

2010-11-23T21:47:00.000-06:00

My friends and I have started getting together once a month for a" Stitch 'N Bitch". It's been a lot of fun, but sometimes we think it should just be called a "Bitch... with some stitching."

#6 Part 6

2010-10-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

"How would you know what's crazy or not? If that sweater of yours was any tighter it'd cut off the circulation to your chest."

#83 Part 1

2010-10-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

The other day, I went through the drive thru at Starbucks and decided to pay for the car behind me as well as my own purchase. When I told the guy in the window my plan, he gave me a sample of delicious coffee and told me if I purchased that, I could get a free large drink. So... I bought the coffee, got my original drink for free, paid for the car behind me and spent less than I thought I would! Hooray for instant Karma!

#6 Part 5

2010-10-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

"I said you were a jerk. I wasn't blaming you for being a jerk. I didn't say that being a jerk was your fault. Nor was I attempting to make you feel guilty for being a jerk. I made a simple observation. You're a jerk. Now just drop it."

#6 Part 4

2010-10-05T23:22:00.000-05:00

"Love is love, Sara. Gender is merely spare parts."

#31

2010-08-29T14:42:00.002-05:00

Today, I decided to check something off the list. I thought I'd go for the "Fun Room" since it's been mostly clean and I just needed to move stuff around. We still have WAY too much stuff in our house, but putting it up on shelves and getting it off the floor made it look a lot better. We also moved the furniture from in front of the big window to let in more light and open up the room.

#10, #25, #43, #97, #98

2010-07-05T18:02:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated this, so let's see where we are!!!

Finally finished reading "Inkdeath"! I loved it. It was a great ending to a wonderful series.

Finally got this awesome sewing machine! It's a Bernina with a lot of fancy stitches. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far!!! Here are some things I made this weekend.

We cleared out a space for a dining room table last summer, and finally found one that works! It's a little bit messy right now since we're trying to get stuff out of the house and into the shed.

We got a new car! Lars was obsessed with the Cube so we went to look at one and I didn't hate it. It's actually a pretty cool car.

I don't have a picture for the last one, but I did get a grown up job! Yay!

#27, #30

2010-04-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

Finally posting this part! When we had our second child, we needed a third bedroom. We took the horribly messy landing, cleaned it out, got rid of a bunch of stuff and turned it into an adorable nursery!

#34, #41, #68, #70

2010-04-11T22:54:00.001-05:00

#34 We decided to redo the living room. We were tired of having everything stuck in the same place. I moved quite a bit around, cleaned the carpet, and even took a shelf off the wall to clear a corner. We need to paint, but we'll get there soon. Moving stuff opened it up and now there's more room for the little ones to play.

#41 We also got some new curtains! They're plain, but I like them a lot.

#68 My in-laws took the whole family on a cruise over spring break. We left from San Diego and stopped in Cabo and Ensenada. It was great to get to spend time with family in such a relaxing atmosphere.

#70 While in Ensenada we went to a private beach for a bit. It was the first time some of the kids had ever been to a beach. Even though it was far too cold, everyone had a great time.

#9 and things to brag about :-)

2010-02-05T22:39:00.000-06:00

Finished "Inkspell"! GREAT BOOK! I absolutely loved it! I'm looking forward to reading "Inkdeath", but it's not out in paperback yet and I don't want to spend the money on it. I needed something to read until I get to "Inkdeath" so I started "The Golden Compass".

The other night I made this beautiful cup of tea. I had to take a picture because it turned out so pretty!

The other night I made a pot roast. It turned out lovely so I had to take a picture. It was pretty tasty, too!

This pattern is from the book "Get Your Crochet On" by Afya Ibomu.

#78 part 1 and What I Did Today

2010-01-28T02:22:00.001-06:00

I decided to make a record of the things I get done during the day. I rarely feel accomplished at the end of the day, so hopefully this will help! First of all, I tried a new recipe. I made mini coffee cakes. They taste a lot better than they look!

I also got some general housework done. Cleaned up the living room and got the dishes done!

I got a new crochet book recently and needed to give it a shot. "Get Your Crochet On! Hip Hats and Cool Caps" by Afya Ibomu. Here is one of the hats I made. I really enjoy the patterns, but they don't quite work for me so I'm taking notes and will be making a few changes and trying again.

The last picture doesn't look very impressive, but it is. This door has not closed for quite some time. I finally got sick of it and fixed the latch! Yay!

#63

2010-01-22T15:44:00.000-06:00

#19

2010-01-20T13:12:00.000-06:00

Here are some photos from my craft show. It was poorly attended, but I did sell a few hats.

#15

2010-01-20T12:26:00.001-06:00

#8

2010-01-08T15:38:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading "Brisingr" and have realized that I now need to add another book to the list. Apparently, 3 books is not enough for a trilogy, so there will be a 4th! I will have to read it when it comes out, though I don't know when that will be, so on with the list!

#7

2010-01-04T18:07:00.002-06:00

I finally finished reading "Eldest"! It was a great book and I finally got through it. Already started on "Brisingr" and am half way through. Hopefully I will be able to cross off a few more things in 2010!

#6 Part 3

2009-09-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I read Dog Sees God by Bert V. Royal. This play was great on so many levels! I laughed out loud many times while reading this. It was great to see someone's interpretation of what happened to the Peanuts kids as teens.
While this play was very humorous, it also focused on some major issues. Sexual identity, drug use, violence in schools, and teen suicide to name a few.
I can't wait to perform this play. It is being presented to the board of our local theatre troupe on Sunday. Hopefully the show will be approved!

#32

2009-08-20T11:35:00.004-05:00

Finally! I think I could have checked this off 3 times, but it never stayed clean after I got it that way. We got a new kitten and needed a place for her to live at night because she is a pain in the butt and likes to attack us in our sleep. We didn't want her waking Kaia anymore, and also didn't want her messing with baby Leif. So, Kaia decided to put together a living space for her in the entry way. We picked up everything off the floor, took a lot of stuff to the shed, and put a litter box, some food and water, and her toys out there. She doesn't love it, but having her there keeps the place clean and keeps her from bugging us.

#24

2009-07-15T12:00:00.002-05:00

We did a safari theme for our nursery so I decided to make a hippo mobile. The hippo pattern was really easy and cute. I like how it turned out.

#44

2009-06-18T01:22:00.002-05:00

So today we decided to move the couch out to the shed and try living with just chairs. We shall see how that goes. In the meantime I will count #44 as done! Since there is no longer a "behind the couch" I had to pick things up off the floor. More living room cleaning to be done tomorrow as long as I'm not completely exhausted.

#94

2009-06-14T13:42:00.001-05:00

While it is true that it is not yet my birthday, I did get a birthday present from the inlaws yesterday. It was a Nintendo DSi! It's so much fun! I hope they add more games and other things to download soon, but I did get Dr. Mario and have been playing that nonstop since yesterday. Now if I could just find the case with all of the DS games in it, I would be golden!

#37

2009-06-12T00:01:00.003-05:00

I put my Tea Station together in the kitchen. The shelf used to hold mugs, but we got rid of some dishes we didn't need so there was room in the cupboard for the mugs. This shelf is right above the sink and right under the kitchen witch I got from my little sister. It looks great! Not sure what I'm going to do when I get more tea... I love tea.

#93

2009-06-11T12:31:00.003-05:00

Kaia and I had some fun with Henna yesterday. I mixed the stuff and we took decorated ourselves and each other. Here are the results!

#18 Parts 16-19

2009-06-10T18:11:00.003-05:00

Finally got through my Ravelry Queue! Here are the last few projects I finished.

#100

2009-06-05T10:34:00.002-05:00

Seussical is almost over! We have a 3 performances left and I actually delivered a couple of thank you cards. I sent them to people who allowed us to use the school and classrooms for rehearsal spaces. I could probably have sent out a few more to other people, but I didn't. And because I usually don't send any at all, I count this as a success. :-)

#23 Parts 4-5

2009-05-28T00:54:00.003-05:00

Here are the last 2 things I made from "Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker". The "Fat Bottom Bag" turned out pretty nice. I like the pattern. It was pretty quick and easy. It does need to be lined if I want to actually use it for anything. The other pattern was the "Exchange Bag". This one I kept messing up on and not fixing. Oh well. I'd probably make it again if I wanted to pay closer attention to the pattern and maybe put in more time and focus. We shall see.

#57 May 2009

2009-05-24T00:32:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, we went to see "A Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian". It was a very cute movie. Very funny, very entertaining. We all enjoyed it.

#18 Parts 12-15

2009-05-19T22:51:00.002-05:00

Made a few more things from my queue. I have a couple more projects almost completed, but I'm missing something I need to finish them. Hopefully I'll get the finishing touches so I can complete the items and get them on here too!

#18 Parts 8-11

2009-05-09T22:58:00.003-05:00

I needed something to do while catching up on some television, so I worked on a few things from my queue. They all turned out really cute and have great character. Here are some pictures.

#59 May '09

2009-05-06T21:31:00.002-05:00

Today I had a Doctor's appointment so Lars and I went to Applebees for lunch. I had a steak, but it wasn't very good. Oh well. It was fun :-)

#38

2009-05-03T09:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we finally got rid of quite a bit of stuff by having a garage sale. Well, it was more of a "Slab of concrete" sale, because we don't have a garage. The shed is much cleaner, everything that didn't sell is going to be donated to the Salvation Army.

It was a beautiful day for a garage sale, and it was nice to spend the day outside! I did, however, get a pretty bad sunburn on my face, hands and chest. Oh well. It'll heal.

#23 Part 3

2009-04-20T12:04:00.002-05:00

I made this project for the Nursery. We decided to do a Safari theme with the main animal being hippos. The pattern for this was for a sock monkey theme, but I changed it a little bit and came up with a hippo applique. It's cute, soft and cozy. I like it.

#18 Part 7

2009-04-19T22:34:00.003-05:00

This pattern was for a big hat using big yarn. I used some Simply Soft Quick. It's really thick yarn, but the hat turned out really small. I don't really like it. Oh well.

#23 Part 2

2009-04-18T19:17:00.003-05:00

I made this blanket and matching hat for Tony and LeAnn's baby shower. It turned out great and very soft! I'm using the same yarn for the project I'm working on for our baby.

#45

2009-04-15T14:53:00.001-05:00

Today was beautiful, so I decided to clean out the car! It looks great and I found some stuff. I found 3 different kinds of lip balm and my favorite pair of sunglasses! The only thing left is to vacuum, but I think they'll do that for me next time I take it to get the oil changed. Yay clean car!!!

#57 & #59 April 2009

2009-04-10T19:25:00.002-05:00

Lars and I both had a free afternoon so we went to the Cottage on Broad Street for lunch. He won a gift card in a disc golf tournament last year, so we used that. It was great food, as usual, and quite fun.

Kaia and I went to see the Hannah Montana movie. It was the first showing on the first day. The movie theatre was very understaffed. There was a huge line at concessions, but we really needed pop corn, so we waited the 20 minutes it took to get through the line. The movie needed more Jackson, and less Hannah singing. That's all I will say about it. :-)

#6 Part 2

2009-04-08T19:14:00.002-05:00

Today I read Asylum by Jerome McDonough. It was... interesting. I think I'd have to watch it in order to understand what was going on. But that might not help. Weird play. Thanks Catie...

#84

2009-04-07T18:59:00.001-05:00

By searching through my house, accepting donations from friends, and making one myself, I have now acquired several reusable shopping bags! I'm ready to go green! Now if I can just remember to bring them with me and use them...

#23 Part 1

2009-04-04T10:36:00.002-05:00

This is the "Fashion First Aid" bag from "Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker". I got the front done and Lars asked why I was making a Swiss flag. Now I'm going to try to find some mountain fabric for the lining :-)

#18 Part 6

2009-04-04T00:19:00.003-05:00

In an attempt to finish number 18 and get started on number 84, I made this lovely reusable shopping bag. The bottom is reinforced with a CD, hopefully it will work out!

#18 Parts 2-5

2009-03-30T17:37:00.002-05:00

I made a few more things from my Ravelry Queue. Here are a few pictures, and there's more in depth descriptions on my Ravelry account.

#6 Part 1

2009-03-29T23:03:00.002-05:00

I read Spring's Awakening by Frank Wendekind translated by Eric Bentley. This is the original script that the musical Spring Awakening is taken from.

I enjoyed it very much. It was very moving (just like the musical, which I saw before reading the script). I felt that there were a few things that could have been translated better for the musical. I think it's definitely something that should be read before attempting to put on the musical version.

#59 March '09

2009-03-27T09:24:00.001-05:00

Lars and I went out to Okoboji Grill yesterday after our Doctor's appointment. We found out we are having a boy and everything is still looking good! I will add pictures as soon as we get them scanned.

#3

2009-03-22T21:27:00.002-05:00

I finished reading "A Lion Among Men" today. It was alright. I have read most of Gregory Maguire's books and have liked most of them. "Wicked" was great, "Son of a Witch" not so good, and "A Lion Among Men" just alright. Oh well. I'll still read "Lost" sometime. It's the only one of his books I haven't read yet.

#18 Part 1

2009-03-19T13:26:00.004-05:00

This was the first item on my Ravelry Queue. I made this hat in a dark green and wore it for St. Patrick's Day. It's really comfortable and pretty cute!

#57 March '09

2009-03-19T12:26:00.003-05:00

Kaia and I went to see Inkheart yesterday. It was a very good adaptation of the book. There were a few things that weren't explained well enough for people who hadn't read the book, but it was very entertaining and Kaia loved it. Good movie. I recommend watching it if you haven't seen it yet.

#62

2009-03-10T00:56:00.003-05:00

Today I finally took pictures of all the crochet pieces I have made recently. I loaded my new projects onto my Ravelry account. They can be seen there.

#61

2009-03-09T14:18:00.001-05:00

We finally got a camera! It's a Nikon Coolpix L20 and I love it! I've been playing with different settings to see which ones I like best, but it's great for what we need! Expect photos soon!

#48 and #49

2009-03-04T13:30:00.002-06:00

#48. In October I directed the play Proof at ACTORS community theatre in Ames, IA. It was a lot of fun and a great experience. We did, however, have a crisis during tech week. My lighting designer didn't come to first tech, so we didn't have any lights! After much discussion and stress, we called a friend who came in and saved us! I promised I would make him some cookies to show my appreciation, but then I never got around to doing it. FINALLY the cookies have been made and delivered!

#49. I did make some cookies for friends at work a couple of months ago, and everyone there enjoyed them. Those who weren't working that day heard about the cookies and started saying "PS please send cookies" every time they saw me. SOOOO the cookies have been made and are accompanying me to work tomorrow.

*A note on pictures... until I accomplish #61 (or until I find my camera) all photos will be taken with my phone. Not the best quality, but it's what I have!

My Mission 101 in 1001

2009-03-03T23:01:00.062-06:00

`This seemed like a great idea, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Here's the website- http://www.dayzeroproject.com/?view=gettingstarted
And here's what the website says...

Creating your own 1001 Day Project

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

In progress

Completed

And here's my list!

This List
1. Come up with a list of 101 things
2. Start a blog about my 101 things
Education
3. Finish reading "A Lion Among Men"
4. Practice piano 4 times a week for 3 months (0/48)
5. Practice guitar 4 times a week for 3 months (0/48)
6. Read 56 plays (6/56)
7. Read "Eldest"
8. Read "Brisingr"
9. Read "Inkspell"
10. Read "Inkdeath"
11. Take a cooking class
12. Read all of Shakespeare's plays
13. Take a class on draping
14. Learn Sign Language
Crafting
15. Make a sweater
16. Make a pair of socks
17. Make a hat for Catie
18. Work through Ravelry Queue (19/19)
19. Sell some hats
20. Make a dress
21. Start a Stitch 'n Bitch
22. Redo the wedding dress
23. Make 5 more pieces from "Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet" (5/5)
24. Make a mobile
25. Get an awesome sewing machine
House
26. Clear out the shed
27. Get rid of stuff on the landing
28. Get rid of stuff in the bedrooms
29. Clean the downstairs
30. Redo the landing
31. Redo the "Fun Room"
32. Clear out the entry way
33. Redo the bedroom
34. Organize the living room
35. Organize the kitchen
36. Redo the bathroom
37. Set up a "Tea Station" in the kitchen
38. Have a garage sale
39. Redo the back yard
40. Redo the front yard
41. Get new curtains for the living room
42. Get a hammock
43. Get a smaller dining room table
44. Clear out behind the couch
45. Clean out the car
46. Frame some of the posters and put them on the wall
47. Buy a bigger house
Friends
48. Make cookies for Nick
49. Make cookies for the boys
50. Hang out with the Waldorks twice a year
51. Host a dinner party
52. Throw someone a birthday party
Family
53. Get family photos taken
54. Complete the Love Dare
55. *Secret*
56. Send family photos to family members
57. Take Kaia to a movie once a month
58. Go bowling without getting mad at Lars
59. Have monthly dinner out with Lars
60. Send birthday cards to the kids
Photography
61. Get a new camera
62. Photograph crochet projects
63. Photograph cross stitch projects
64. Scan old photos
65. Take more pictures
66. Take my "Bad Idea Bear" out on adventures
67. Get wedding photos scanned
Travel
68. Take a vacation
69. Go to New York City
70. Go to a beach
71. Go to the Omaha Zoo
72. Visit Iowa towns
73. Take a Saturday to drive
74. Drive to Washington
Health/Food
75. Don't eat fast food for a full month
76. Learn how to perfectly cook asparagus
77. Learn how to perfectly cook zucchini
78. Try 30 new recipes (1/30)
79. Exercise 3 times weekly
80. Join a tea of the month club
81. Go to a Farmer's Market
Spirituality/Environment
82. Tithe regularly
83. Do 10 random acts of kindness (1/10)
84. Acquire or make reusable shopping bags
85. USE reusable shopping bags
86. Turn off the TV for 1 day a week
87. Donate food to the local food bank
JSTT
88. Get JSTT photos put on CD for the website
89. Organize the JSTT wardrobe
Just for me
~~90. Learn to use my Heelys~~
91. Ride a Segway
92. Get my Into the Woods painting framed
93. Get henna
94. Get a Nintendo DSi
95. Get a massage
Miscellaneous
96. Sell the JS piece
97. Get a new car
98. Get a grown up job
99. Send Christmas Cards
100. Send "Thank You" cards after Seussical
101. Carry a journal