On This Winter's Night

This is the song that got me in the Christmas spirit this season. I wish I'd found it sooner.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

The Holiday Projects

I really enjoyed this holiday season.  I made a lot of stuff, a bunch of which I didn't get pictures of, but a bunch that I did.  No pictures of Christmas Day, though.  Everyone forgot to get their cameras out.  And I spent New Years Eve as usual, lounging around my house and reading a good book.  I did go out to eat at Maddox with my parents; Maddox is the only place for a good hamburger.  I'll miss it when I have to go back to school.

Without further ado, here's my slew of pictures.

No slew of pictures would be complete without some of my cat.  He got in the Christmas spirit, too.  The picture directly above this text is him sitting on my mom's sewing chair in my mom's sewing room, where I finished up a bunch of my projects, and he sat and watched.

I crocheted my Grandma Alice a rug.  I crocheted so much in a week that my hand hurt this year.

On my way to pick up my brother for the Jazz game, I snapped this picture of Temple Square Lights.

My mom had surgery last week, and the Relief Society brought over dinner for two nights in a row, so I made thank you cards.

Then came something I'm really proud of.  I made my mom a calendar for the first time ever.  My brother and I avoided buying a calendar like the plague this year because last Christmas we both bought her the exact same calendar.  I made him take his back because mine was already wrapped and under the tree, unlike his.  So this year, when I found out neither of us had purchased a calendar for my mom, I went about making her one.  It got finished yesterday.

This is possibly my favorite page.

Hope you all had as great a holiday season as I did.

That's the Spirit!

Last year I just couldn't get into Christmas that much.  I mean, it was to be expected, as it was my first Christmas after getting my marriage annulled.

This year, I am filled with the Christmas spirit.  I don't know if I feel extra excited because I wasn't excited last year, or if it's just more excitement than I've felt in a long time.  I suspect it's the first.  Still, I've made a bunch of Christmas gifts, and Christmas cards.

I made two other ones, but I already sent them out.  It is definitely time to enjoy the Christmas spirit!

It's Christmas!

My roommates have decorated our apartment; I brought a Christmas tree; we've all baked cookies; and Christmas music is playing.  I've been into the soul side of Christmas music this year.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Sometimes I Get Crafty

My Grandma Vickie taught me how to crochet when I was seven.  Just the basic stitches--it's hard to teach a seven year old much more without losing her attention.  I got into it for awhile, then forgot about it.  When my Grandma Penny bought me a "learn to crochet" book for Christmas when I was about twelve, I relearned and started again.  Soon, however, the novelty wore off, since I didn't have the patience to learn how to do the harder patterns in the book.

Nearly a decade later, I started up again.  When I was in Monterey without Nik I had a lot of time on my hands.  I spent most of it on homework, playing video games, taking walks in the mists of Monterey, eating Chinese food (or, when I wasn't in the mood for that, making something cheap at home) while watching movies and playing on facebook.  However, this routine became slightly boring, as one can only imagine after weeks of it.  So, I remembered my old hobby, and also remembered all the yarn that my mom bought me for an afghan sitting in my craft/game room.  I took up the book I had bought in college (during that time I also had a brief crochet spurt, and bought a new beginner's book), and started in on the afghan.  It took me months to do.  I watched every episode of the original Star Trek series while doing it, and still had a third of the afghan to go.

The activity kept me from going insane.  After the fiasco that led to my leaving, in an effort to try and keep myself together/put myself back together, I continued work on the afghan.  I wasn't going to let it go unfinished because of where I started it.  I did get it finished, and it now sits in my family's cabin up at Bear Lake.  I don't have any pictures of it, but if I remember and you guys want to see it, I'll take a picture this summer and put it up for you all.

While in Monterey, I had bought yarn for several new projects.  I finished a baby blanket, a couple of burp cloths, and a play rug for my mom to take home with her (she and my Grandma Alice came out to visit) while I was in Monterey, but I had a couple more projects sitting in boxes that I hadn't begun.  I decided to start one of these projects right before I came to Provo.  I finished it today.

Don't mind the printer and backpack in the background.  I didn't have a ton of room to properly showcase my work.

This afghan didn't take me near as long to make.  I've become a more seasoned crocheter.  The pictures don't really due the beauty of the afghan justice.  If you're ever over to my house, you want to see it, and I have it with me, then you can truly admire how much work it takes to make something like this look good.  Since I'm already bragging, I guess I'll end with saying how proud I am that I actually finished this.  Lately I haven't been so great at finishing things I start, so I this is a big deal for me.

A Christmas Note

Have a happy Christmas, everyone!

Photos of Recent Events

So, here's a couple of pictures that I took at the Harry Potter premiere of my cousin Bailey and me.

Then there's the Christmas tree pictures.  Now, don't go ugh right when you see the picture of the tree my dad bought.  Look at the pictures of the hand carved ornaments.  Those are what make the tree awesome.  Then, the other small tree I took pictures of is the one my mom and I decorated and my family donated to the Jubilee.

The Christmas Kickoff

First off, this blizzard that everyone was talking about, it wasn't really more than a bad snow storm.  I wouldn't call it a blizzard; it didn't last long in Ogden, anyways.  We went to the Christmas Tree Jubilee Gala/Live Auction tonight.  We being my family, the Jensens, my dad's secretary Julie Carpenter, and Ryan Taylor.  It was really fun; my dad ended up spending $4000 on a Christmas tree.  I'm pretty sure that my mom is still in shock over it, as am I.   60,000 some odd dollars (probably add a couple thousand or so to that number) was raised (to help children with disabilities) with donations and the live auction alone, not counting the dinner, the silent auction, or the boutique sales.

Yeah, that's really all for tonight.  When I figure out where my dad is going to put that tree, I'll have to post pictures of it.  All the ornaments are handmade--carved--and the tree is sort of a free-hanging thing.  It doesn't rotate, but it moves back and forth, type of thing.

I Have This Thing...

Lately my saying has been "I have this thing..." which is usually followed by the word where.

I have this thing where it isn't supposed to snow until at least Thanksgiving, if not the day after.  The weather should follow my commands, because I don't want to be thinking it's Christmas before Thanksgiving.

I have this thing where I don't like to drink any hot chocolate until January, and then I have this thing where it can only be peppermint hot chocolate with candy cane chunks in it.

I have this thing where I need a small tree that I can name Kestin for the holiday season, and even possibly after it.

I have this thing where I can't look him in the eye and talk to him at the same time, because my semantics are all weird, and I sound like a complete idiot.  For instance, I said this thing to him, "Well, my dad has to go early, but you can ride with us if you want, my aunt Brenda and my mom and me."  You can?  Who am I kidding?  I made it sound like he either could ride with us or go on his own.  Gee, thanks Chels.*

I have this thing where Frank Sinatra can only be listened to in the winter, or on rainy days.

I have this thing where he has to smell a certain way for me to feel like I am going to have to compete with a whole bunch of other girls for his attention.

I have this thing where I worry that if I look him in the eye for any period of time, he'll read my mind.

I have this thing where I have to go see the Christmas Village, but I can't go unless there's someone there to hold my hand, keep me warm, and enjoy it with me.

I have this thing where if I read Terry Pratchett, I think like Death.

There are countless more of these "I have this thing" sayings, but I think I'll stop here for the night.  It doesn't seem right for me to continue on, because some of the things that I think that start with that phrase are really strange, and I don't want you all to think that I'm insane and/or paranoid.

*I just tagged his name, because if he reads this he's going to remember that conversation and know it's him I'm talking about there anyway.