Family Resemblance

Yesterday was an interesting day. Father's Day has never really been a big deal in my house. My dad left when I was little, and I never had stepfather or anyone else that filled that role. Occasionally I would celebrate with Mom, but it's a hard day for her since her dad passed away when she was so young. Most years it comes and goes without much notice. But this year I had a bit of a shocking realization. I look like my dad.

That may seem like an odd thing to suddenly realize, but I never knew it before yesterday. See, my father left when I was 2, so I don't really remember him. I had never so much as seen a picture of him until my half brother posted a throwback photo of him and my dad from when he was little. It was weird and a little unsettling. I posted the picture of the two of them on Instagram and immediately got comments about how much I look like my father.  Here's a comparison...

Me being silly at Hobby Lobby

My brother Jeremy and our father, circa 1983?

Ok, maybe not the best picture of me, but it is the most recent. It's strange to know you look like someone who doesn't want anything to do with you. But before you start trying to make me feel better, you should know I had another realization, too.

I think (or I hope) that I also favor my Dad. You know, my Father, the Creator of all things. That Guy. In Psalm 65:8 it says that God is a Father to the fatherless, and I am finally to a point where I get that and believe it to be true in my own situation. And I hope I look like Him, too. A few weeks ago, an agnostic co-worker and I were talking and he said he knew something was different about me because I "just have a light inside," and I knew he meant the Holy Spirit. That was probably the best compliment I have ever gotten. Despite the physical appearance a few strands of DNA gave me, I want to know that people I look like my Dad.

My Life in a Tree

Today was a busy day for me, which, most people know, is weird because I like having empty Sundays. But alas, today filled up quite nicely. My afternoon was spent painting a tree and learning a little about life in the process.

My friend Sarah sent me a last minute Facebook invite to a fundraiser for the East Tennessee Kidney Foundation. They were doing a class at Painting with a Twist. I've been wanting to try one of those classes for a while, so Amy and I decided to go. 

Let me start by saying this: I am not what you might call an artist. Yes, I am crafty. I can crochet, I can imagine, I can create... I cannot draw. That had me a little nervous, but I figured that it was for a good cause. And even if I hated it I could gift it to someone else later. :-)

When I sat down at the canvas, I already knew this could have the potential to get deep. I have the tendency  to look for the life lessons in certain activities, and I knew that had the possibility to pop up here. It did. I realized that creating this painting was going to be a lot like making it through life. 

You start with a blank canvas. Maybe a few suggested colors, but you can use them how you choose.

You work to establish your background. Sometimes it gets a little messed up...

I said that was an abstract eagle, Amy said
it was a mountain. Whatever it was, I didn't
do it on purpose.

 ...so you have to work to make it how you want it.

Bye bye, eagle mountain.

 Then you work on your focus...

I thought I was done, so I took a pic of what
it looked like after this step...

 ... and you tweak the details...

But then I decided it needed a branch near
the bottom of the trunk...

 ... then you tweak them a little more...

Oh! and some off that one branch on the
right...

Then you start doing what other people tell you to do and it all goes to pot.

This is where I stopped loving my picture

 So you work to add a little bit more of yourself into it.

And blend to get it to where you are ok with it.

Then you realize you were just looking at it the wrong way...

I decided I love my painting as a branch
more than as a tree. 

So yeah... even if things don't always turn out the way you pictured them, that doesn't mean it's wrong. Maybe you just need to look at it differently. 

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For the record, I really had a great time. I just don't get along with sponges and painting. There was a time that I was trying to sponge paint a wall in Greg's house, and it ended with my lying in the floor nearly in tears over the fact that it wasn't doing what I wanted.

This is what we were supposed to be painting.... 

I think it's adorable, but it's not really "me." Which is cool, because my tree isn't a tree, it's a branch. And I love it even more as a branch. It alludes to the fact that it's part of something bigger than itself. Which I am.

Currently

I'm still alive! I know, I know, it's be ages since I posted a blog. I feel like that's what I get for bragging about my awesome amount of focus. About the time I clicked publish, all of my focus went out the window! 

May has been a BUSY month so far. Between my birthday(s) and subbing for my boss, I’m just now getting to a point where I feel like I can relax. I promise I will post about all of that (as well as the crochet patterns/reviews I owe you), but there is a small hiccup with getting my pictures out of my phone. More on that later.

But for now, I decided I wanted follow the trend with the “Currently” survey. Does this remind anyone else of the surveys on MySpace? I loved those, too. 

Current Book(s):

Ha! The books I’ve read in the past few weeks are a little eclectic, but I liked them.

City of Bones by Casandra Clare

I’ve seen this book on the shelves and been interested, but when I saw a trailer for the soon-to-be movie I decided to go ahead and read it. I really liked it! I plan on getting the second one on my next payday.

Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

My small group was using this for our most recent study. I’m not going to say I’ve learned a lot, but it’s changed my perspective on a few things. Read it!

And for real, I’m currently reading Size12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot.

I’ve read the other 3 in the series, and I found this was available from the library as an e-book. I put it on hold, then forgot to download it, so I had to be put back on the list! I like it so far.

Current Music:

Most people know I only listen to Air 1 in my car. It was a personal decision, but that doesn’t mean it’s all listen to. Some of my favorite songs include:

Gold by Britt Nicole

You’ll Never Be Alone by Capital Kings

Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Just Give Me a Reason by P!nk and Nate Reuss

Current Guilty Pleasure:

Chocolate Dipped cones from McDonald’s.

Current Nail Color:

I just took it off, but I was wearing OPI VIII

Current Drink:

Coffee

Current Food:

Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches. I had one for breakfast and it’s like the 12^th I’ve had this week. I’m addicted.

Current Favorite Show:

This is going to sound lame, but Good Morning America. 

It’s the only show I get to watch on a regular basis, and I do love it.

Current Wish List:

Clothes. I realized I don’t have many spring/summer clothes.

Current needs:

New work capris. All of my old ones are too big.

Current Indulgence:

Ice cream

Current Blessing:

I’m so blessed I can’t even believe it some days. I know that may sound hokey, but it doesn’t make it less true. I feel the most blessed with my friends and family.

Current Outfit:

My blue sundress. My friend is graduating from Law School this morning, and I’m typing this while waiting for Greg to pick me up.

Current Excitement:

The chance to finally catch up on my personal life!

Rise and Shine!

Good morning, exercise!

Last night I decided I was going to try my hand at an early morning workout. I've done it a few times before, and I'm really wanting to get back in a regular gym schedule. It always amuses me when people don't understand how someone who works in a gym doesn't workout. Think about it. If you worked all day, would you want to then stay there for an additional hour? Not to mention that almost any time I work out people start asking me questions about the schedule or tell me maintenance problems... I might as well still be working! But I digress.

Anyway, I had been toying with the idea of working out in the mornings for a few days. The other day I was reading through my blog list and Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers had written a post on Exercise Obstacles. I took that as a nod that maybe I should try the am workout thing again. Working out in the mornings is pretty perfect, if I can get myself in there. Most of the early morning visitors aren't there for social hour, so I don't have to worry about being interrupted. So last night I put my stuff together so I could roll out of bed and get out the door in less than 15 minutes.

It worked! I got to the gym by about 5:45, and I was done by 6:30. It was great! I was still interrupted, but it was by someone from my church so I'll let it go. The only down side was dealing with the tired muscles (and the tired self) for the rest of the day. I'm sure that it will even itself out soon, but today sucked. And the 3 sets of walking lunges probably didn't help.

Focus

My diet bet ended yesterday, and I'm sad to say I didn't win. I will be completely honest and say that I just lost focus. I did GREAT for the first week, and then... I don't know. I just lost track of my goal. And by the time I tried to get back on track it was too little too late. I'm not happy about it, but I'm not beating myself up over it either. I know I can do this. I'm just not doing it for some reason. I need to get out of my own fog.

I'm am happy to say that my mom lost well over the amount she needed to lose to win. I think she went over her goal by 2 pounds! In all honesty, if only one of us could win it, I'm glad it was her. Hopefully this will be good motivation to keep her on track. She even put a pedometer on her Mother's Day Wish List, so here's hoping!

---

One thing I have been able to focus on was my crochet habit! After I made Moose's moose, I made a golf club cover for Greg's friend Casey.

I'm planning to type a tutorial for it later. I'm hoping to have a red and a blue one finished by the time Greg and I have dinner with Casey and his wife this weekend. I have tomorrow off, so it shouldn't be too much of a task. Famous last words, I know.

But I'm also done with Melissa's April Hat! I started and finished it Sunday evening. That's kind of rare for me. Usually it takes me a few days of stalling. :-) Now I'm just waiting on payday so I can mail it to her. I promise to have a pattern review posted soon.

If you give a Moose a moose...

The past few days have been... let's just say rough. I've been feeling a little defeated. Some it is hormonal, some of it is external, It's just been a weird time. Have you ever had one of those days where you couldn't pinpoint exactly what went wrong, but it was still a bad day? That's been my week.  But hopefully, I'm coming out of it.

I think it didn't help matters that this morning I didn't have my quiet time. Normally, it's the first thing I do after brushing my teeth. I'm not sure how or why I forgot this morning, but I did. I'm choosing to blame it on the Zyrtec I took last night. I didn't even realize I forgot until almost 8pm! I'll have to pay more attention to my routine in the mornings.

---

Easter was Greg's friend's birthday. His nickname is Moose, so I decided to make him a moose as his gift. (His real name is Jason, but I only learned that after knowing him for several years.)

I think it turned out really cute! I found the pattern here. It is actually the first crochet pattern I broke down and bought (but not the first I wish I had). The pattern is really well written, and was totally worth every penny. That being said, I'm not making another one! It was simple enough, but it's just not going to happen again. Sorry, Moose. I love ya, but next time you get a gift card... 

Of course, another of Greg's friend's birthdays is this week (they met in school and were all born about 5 weeks apart. I love it.) and I have been toying with the idea of making one of these.... 

We'll see. 

Hat of the Month: March Blonde Braids

For March, I decided to channel my inner princess.

I'm so happy to have this hat finished! Not because I didn't have fun making it, but because of the mental block I had surrounding it. As I said before, I started making one hat, and just when I thought I was finished I decided to change what I was doing. I was just going to make a basic hat then fold up the brim and sew on a button (ala Blossom). But when I was almost done I spotted my yellow yarn and decided to try for the braided look. Voila!

Here's what I ended up doing...
For the hat:
- Approx. 2.5oz of yarn, any color (I started with a new skein of Red Heart Candy Print and used about half of the skein)
- J-hook

Round 1. Ch 3, work 7 hdc into the first chain. (8 hdc)
Round 2. Ch 2, hdc in same st. 2 hdc in each st around (16 hdc)
Round 3. Ch 2, hdc in same st. *1 hdc in next 1 st, 2 hdc in next st* repeat from * to * around (24 hdc)
Round 4. Ch 2, hdc in same st. *1 hdc in next 2 st, 2 hdc in next st* repeat from * to * around (32 hdc)
Round 5. Ch 2, hdc in same st. *1 hdc in next 3 st, 2 hdc in next st* repeat from * to * around (40 hdc)
Round 6. Ch 2, hdc in same st. *1 hdc in next 4 st, 2 hdc in next st* repeat from * to * around (48 hdc)
Round 7. Ch 2, hdc in next st. hdc around (48 hdc)
Round 8-18. Repeat row 7.
Round 19. Ch 2. Working in back loops only, hdc in st around. (48 hdc)
Round 20. Repeat row 7.
Weave ends.

For the braids:
Cut 52 pieces of yarn, each approx. 4 feet long (or twice the length you want your "hair" to be).
I used a combination of 3 yellows to give it a "natural highlights" feel, but you could use whatever color(s) you choose. I didn't really count how many strands I cut of each color, but I probably had about 8 light yellow, 18 medium yellow, and the rest the darker yellow. Since I had them on hand, I have no idea what the color names are, but if I had to guess, my light yellow was Red Heart Super Saver Light Yellow, my medium yellow was Red Heart Super Saver Bright Yellow, and my dark was Red Heart Sport Yellow... I like Red Heart :-)
Go back up to Round 19. Starting from the center (I used the ch 2 as my guide, but you can really start from anywhere), count over 5 stitches each way and mark the 5th stitch on each side. Take 2 pieces of yarn, fold them in half, and pull the middle of the folded yarn through the front loop of the 6th stitch, just enough to have a loop. Pull the other ends of the yarn through the folded-yarn loop. Repeat in the next 25 stitches, and again on the opposite side.

The blue yarn was marking my stitch.

Separate the hair in to 3 even sections and braid. Finish off by wrapping the end of each braid with a piece of yarn and tie to secure.

I finished the hat with a simple flower, and called it done!

Hope you like it! Let me know if you have any questions!