Lake Erie

Over the weekend, we drove up to Lake Erie to see it while it was still frozen. Lake Erie is HUGE, it functions more like a sea with waves and everything, so it's pretty incredible that it can freeze. We had a great afternoon looking at the frozen lake and seeing the sights at Presque Isle.

Ice fishermen on the lake:

Mom and me:

Standin' on the edge:

Laura and Mom on the ice

Me standing on Lake Erie:

The shoreline:

Gotta love lighthouses:

Afterwards, we had some good chinese food in Erie- a rare find! In all, a good weekend.

I Spy

...with my little eye:

Good friends

Cute babies

A temple sealing

The Golden Gate

Little girls from Fairfield that aren't so little anymore

Two of my six kitties

Goofing around at the Black and White Bash

Junior Prom my Senior year

Twin Day

My mommy as a little girl

Butterflies

Halloween 2001

Young Women's

Me wearing the same outfit in two photos

People from Connecticut

Brought to you by the letter "e"

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I re-did my ribbon board (from good ol' BB&B) the other day and updated and rearranged it. It's a good place to stick random photos that I don't really know what to do with. It hangs above my bed, I like to look at it and think about the people I love. There's still a few people that need representing, one of these days I'll get around to that. I bought the butterfly prints on either side at a couple of different antique stores (the large one from CT, the two small ones back home). My wall is too stark of a shade of white (the people who built this house made a lot of strange decor choices that drive me crazy), I want to paint my room a nice shade of ivory, which would go much better with my bedding and wall pieces. I miss a lot of people that I've gotten to know over the years and so I like to remember them with my ribbon board.

Ironic

So it was heat wave warm on Sunday (41 degrees!) and some of the snow melted. I was worried that it would freeze overnight and be nasty icy yesterday and sure enough I was right. Campus was terrible to navigate around. I was on the sidewalk that was pretty much bare, but I hit a patch of ice wrong and couldn't right myself- my heavy backpack, my pocketed hands and my horrible sense of balance all worked together to have me succumb to gravity's pull.

I landed on my knees on the sidewalk (primarily on my left one) and that wasn't enough to stop me.

I landed on my palms and that still wasn't enough to stop me.

I found myself lying face down in the dirty slush. My phone and keys went flying from my pockets (when my hands flew out to save me) and landed 15 feet away.

This was on top of the really crummy morning I was already having. I got up and limped to Math class. My knee is bruised and skinned, and I wrenched my right shoulder and wrists trying to stick the landing. I am pretty stiff today, it was hard to draw in class. I'll be ok though. I am really glad I was not hurt worse. Thankfully no one really saw me tumble, that would have been embarrassing.

After school I get the mail and pick up a box that came from my Aunt Terry in Alaska. When we opened it, there was a pair of these for each of us:


Yep, that's right. Those cleat things that you slip on your shoes so you don't slip on ice. On the same day. How ironic is that?

(insert Alanis Morrisette song here)

BLAST from the Past!

For the most part, I'm pretty boring, but sometimes I have fun. Last weekend my tiny YSA hosted a multi-stake conference- it was a lot of work, but so much fun! You see, out here the church is so small that to do anything with another stake, you have to feed them and house them! People came from Pittsburgh (2 hours away), Harrisburg (3 hours away) and yes, even West Virginia (3 hours away)! Our theme was "Blast from the Past" and everyone totally had a blast. We were told by some that this was their favorite YSA conference (and they'd been to a lot!) so that was a great compliment. I, of course, was in charge of decorations and designing the flyer, but somehow that morphed into a lot more! I was beat by the time it was over, but it was worth it.

We started off the evening on Friday with mean, evil Get to Know You Games from Kate...she made us play the torturous "Relay an Orange Using Only Your Neck" game! Some of the girls got rugburn from the guy's stubble! Our advisor, Brother Trusel shot video of this event...we watched it last Monday and I was rolling on the ground and crying with laughter! There is video that totally looks like I am making out with the Harrisburg boys! I was at a bad angle, with the others you can tell there's an orange in there! And he kept the camera on me alot, thanks! Now, keep this in perspective...there is no video of me before the age of 17....but what is on video of me? Necking with an orange! What is the deal with that? I made Laura swear not to tell Mom and Dad about this game, or we'd never hear the end of it! It was hilarious to watch the others, I'll give you that.

Friday's dance:

(and yes those are my family's cheesy records on the walls!)

On Saturday, we listened to our area's Mission President, then played in the snow. Here's my group's creation- with huge icicles for hands and a tail! We named him Lenny:

David, Rene, Ivan, Joash and myself

Went bowling (I stunk but had fun):

L to R: Jon, Tiff, Ame, me, Laura and Dennis way down there.

In the evening, we had our own Jamestown Idol- each group or "band" had to perform their assigned song and use a random bag of props in their act. The hilarity ensued- here is my pal Dennis taking a flying leap off the stage during his group's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun":

Here is my group, we sang "Yellow Submarine" and I made us paper plate portholes. We totally rocked- even submarined into the audience!

Don't you love my witch hat with attached ORANGE hair? ;)

Here are the judges, (from L to R) Randy, Simon and Paula- they nailed their parts to a T!

After Idol, we had dance lessons from Tiff's grandma, I can waltz now! (Sort of!)

Bustin' a move at Saturday's dance (I danced a lot this weekend, aren't you proud of me? It felt good!):

My friend Rene and me:

and my friends Ame and Tiffany- Ame and I are planning on going to the West Virginia conference in March!

Here's the whole gang! I am sitting on the left. We took a group pic before a really great testimony meeting on Sunday morning.

Woo hoo for fun weekends and new friends!

CPSIA

If you are a crafty/etsy person, then you probably have heard about the new law (CPSIA) going into effect soon (in February) that bans selling children's items that have not been tested for safety. Keep in mind that testing is very expensive and destroys your "one of a kind" item. Even if you know your item is safe from lead(like a fabric toy), it still has to be tested. Very soon many, many artisans and small business people will not be able to afford testing and will have to stop their business.

This law is in response to the recent lead issues from imported items. While I am not protesting children's safety, the law does not make an allowance for small businesses or handmade items. It was not well thought out. It needs to be changed. Handmade items and other legit toys were not the problem, but now hundreds of thousands of people are affected. Handmade toys grew out of a response to the imported dangerous toys, now they are under attack. I think this is a primo example of government "helping", yet hindering...how will this help the economy? Many people can't find work or are unable to work so they sell their wares. People like me.

Many perfectly good items will have to be thrown out because they were not tested, this could affect children's book and resale items as well. I think that some items should not be resold (car seats and cribs are often recalled, if you are a buyer it is hard to know which are safe) but most are fine. Re-selling items is green and good for the enviroment!

Today (Jan 28th) there are many bloggers protesting this law, I wanted to join them. I feel that the law is taking away too much. I want the freedom to sell what I make- I wouldn't make unsafe items.

Contact your government leaders, tell them how you feel. I was glad to hear that this issue was one of the top 10 things that www.change.org presented to Obama's people reecntly. I really hope this law changes for the better.

Family Tree

I made this awhile ago but thought I'd show it here. I wanted to show that it's not hard to make decent looking home decor items using scrapbook supplies. The 9x9" frame came from Ikea, complete with mat. I put a piece of patterned paper behind the mat, then used a metal tree & frames set made by Creating Keepsakes (was sold at JoAnn's, don't know if it is anymore). I copied or printed vintage family photos of my mom's side of the family, cut them out with the included template, and glued them in place. The frames come with adhesive on the back already, just had to stick them in place. I used pink and yellow embroidery floss (it coordinates with the paper) to tie onto the loops of the mini-frames for a more "finished" look. I typed the word "Family", printed it out and adhered it to a white scalloped label from Martha Stewart Crafts and glued it in the corner. It didn't take very long to put together.

I like the look of it- I don't like when people try to put really trendy stuff with old photos in an attempt to "modernize" them- it ususally doesn't work. I try to be more timeless with my scrapbooks than most people. I think you have to respect what era it came from.

My mom likes the family tree a lot, I'm like "It's MINE!";)

Winter

We have been blanketed with snow all winter, we've seriously only had a couple of nice days since Halloween! Lately it has been COLD (0 degrees when I got up today and a high of like 17)and we've gotten a good amount of snow that hasn't gone away, it just keeps piling up. The dogs are swimming in it when we walk them! The cold bothers my joints, I will be very glad when it is Spring! We still manage to have some fun though, as you'll see:

We made a couple of luminarias out of ice, some by accident- you let the water in a bucket start to freeze, then dump out the water in the middle of the ice and add a candle and you get this:

Pretty, huh?

Then on MLK day, we picked up our Branch President's grandkids (our entire Primary!) and we all went sledding down our driveway. It's a good hill- steep enough to get a good ride but not so steep you can't walk up it. Everyone won- the kids and us had a good time and their Grandma Norma (funny cause we have a Grandma Norma too!) got some rest, she was under the weather. We laughed about borrowing little kids so we could be kids too!

Laura with Ian (age 5)

This pic looks like Payton is sledding up the hill but she is really spinning around on her pink disk! Makes me think of MC Escher.

We had forts and a snowball fight, too. Carmen started it...better be careful what you wish for!

Payton and I were a team. We kicked butt.

Ian, Carmen and Payton on our bridge (above) and me and Laura with the kids (below).

Fun for all ages!

8 Things

Stef tagged me, so here I go:

8 Shows you watch:
(I don't have tv reception so here are tv dvds I like to watch)

1. How I Met Your Mother
2. The Closer
3. Sesame Street Old School (No Elmo! Hooray!)
4. Malcolm in the Middle
5. Lost
6. Veronica Mars (there is talk of a movie, could be exciting)
7. The Drew Carey Show
8. 30 Rock

8 Restaurants I love:

1. Red Robin's
2. Olive Garden
3. Cracker Barrel
4. The Dutch Treat (an Amish themed restaurant in Sparty)
5. Red Lobster
6. Outback Steakhouse
7. Nick's in San Francisco
8. Krain Corner Inn back home in Enumclaw

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Went to drawing class
2. Made copies for sculpture class
3. Checked email
4. Drove back and forth in the snow
5. Made YW phone calls
6. Did math homework
7. Had tacos for dinner
8. Made 4 small sculptures for class today (photos coming)

8 things I look forward to:

1. Getting this YSA conference over and done with (it's this weekend, my small band of YSA are hosting and I'm responsible for a lot).
2. Going to San Francisco for Spring Break- Grandma is turning 80!
3. Getting out of school one day and finally becoming an art teacher
4. Getting shop up on Etsy
5. Going sledding
6. Getting some sleep
7. Traveling (someday!)
8. De-junking/getting organized

8 wishes:

1. Flying? Able to time travel?
2. Go to Disneyworld
3. That I could just be crafty all the time
4. That I could accomplish all my goals
5. For good health
6. That I could go visit all my friends
7. That I could travel and visit all the cool places I see in Art class
8. That I could have more work in galleries

8 People I tag:

1. Mandy
2. Angela
3. Aimee
4. Sunny
5. Marleen
6. Lara
7. Jessica
8. Emily

School

I started school this week and thought I'd wait until I'd been to all my classes before I made my report. I'm taking Art Ed (at 8am!), Math, English 102, Drawing II and Beginning Sculpture. I've been busy this week getting supplies and stuff (three trips to the bookstore!) but I think it will be a good semester. Adding to the craziness has been the really awful/cold weather this week, not helping.

Math is a big concern because I'm so bad at it but I think this teacher is pretty good. My Art Ed teacher is pretty good, he is entertaining (has a beard halfway down his chest and loves legos) which is what you need at 8am. I like my drawing teacher better than the drawing teacher I had last semester and my Sculpture class looks to be interesting as well- I'm already having to do a lot of research for upcoming projects, like the first where we make 20 different body parts using different techniques.

I had to laugh at the first assignment in Eng 102- it's a kind of get to know you project. It's based on the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire". If you're not familiar with the verses, he chronicles important people and events from 1949 (when he was born) to when the song came out (in '89). And in groups, it's our job to write another verse, chronicling time from 1989 to today.

This is pretty funny when you realize that my fellow students were born in '88 or '89 and don't remember the '80s! Or much of the 90's for that matter! Freshmen were born in 1990- don't get me started!

We each had to come up with a list of events that we thought were imporant from '89 to today, we haven't written our verse yet. I'm curious to see what my young classmates come up with on their lists! I wonder if I will have to school them on the '80s ("....no, MTV came much earlier than 1989..."). LOL

I'll share it when we get our verse done.

Here's my list so far (in random order):

• Soviet Union disbands
• Berlin Wall torn down
• Hanging chads in the 2000 election
• The internet became commonplace
• Desert Storm
• Sept 11 (of course)
• Obama elected
• Current recession
• Y2K frenzy
• '93 bombing of World Trade Center
• Oklahoma City Bombing
• School Shootings
• OJ trial (my classmates were like 5 when this happened!)
• Princess Diana's death
• Bill Clinton's almost impeachment/Monica Lewinsky
• Invention of cell phones
• Stem cell research
• Hurricane Katrina
• Tsunami
• Red Sox win World Series
• Saddam Hussein captured and executed
• Current Iraq War

Am I missing anything? Let me know. Soon you'll be seeing more school project pics.

2008

I've been meaning to recap 2008...it was a better year than the couple before that. It marked my first full year in PA. 2007 was basically consumed with moving, 2006 was consumed with dreading the move to PA. Here's to an even better '09, but first, let's recap the year that was 2008:

• In January, I got my seventh tube in my bad ear. Usually this is an outpatient procedure and you have local anethetic, but this time I had to be put under since removing the previous tube would be more difficult (it went under my ear drum instead of thru it). I had the worst reaction I've ever had to coming out of anethesia, it was not fun.




• Days after that, I started at Edinboro. I've been meaning to go back to school and it's nice to finally do so. It's a challenge, but I really love all the new things I learn and get to try out.
  




• Last March I went to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY with the YSA. This was a great trip and we saw a lot of neat pieces.


• Also last March, I joined Facebook and also became a blogger! I love Facebook for keeping track of people and I love bloggin'- it's very theraputic. Thanks Stef for making me do this!


• March also was the first time I got to see Palmyra- very cool.




• In May I was put in YW, which I've never served in before. Another big challenge, but I love my girls!
  
• In June Auntie Marcie visited- our first official guest! It was great having her around.


• June also marked my first visit back home since I moved- it was a super quick trip (I was there for L&I purposes) but I got to see my pals and that was FABULOUS!

• Got to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant for the first time...awesome!
• Girl's Camp was a big highlight of the year- I loved it and so did the girls!
• The YSA conference in Pittsburgh was really great and it was neat to hear from (and meet) Julie B. Beck.
• 2008 marked The Return of Embroidery and I got a little more scrapping done than in '07. I also got into making kid's stuff and finding freebie patterns online.
• I finally got around to researching Etsy! Hopefully that will be a reality soon!
• I hit a deer for the first time (hopefully the last!) which is not surprising since there are SO many deer in PA!
• It started snowing in OCTOBER and hasn't really let up since!
• Diagnosed with PCOS, trying to be healthier (and I need to step that up)
• And hey, let's not forget the important things....we made pickles for the first time as a family!

Life is always a challenge, but 2008 was a step in the right direction. Let's hope that 2009 keeps it up!

Christmas 08

Christmas was pretty nice this year, here's some random photos:

I embroidered Dad a dishtowel with a '57 Chevy on it- he does most of the cooking, thought he'd like a "manly" dishtowel (and he did!). He also asked Santa for a nap on the couch and got that, too. ;)

I got a quilting set from Grandmother....woo hoo!


and a big pack 'o clear stamps from my grandparents! Woo hoo!

I gave Dad a book entitled "Weird Pennsylvania"....we always joke about how weird PA is and now we have proof!

I made Laura a calico dog (modeled after her first guide dog flunkie that we now own, Lars) complete with a "guide dog" green scarf:

Santa brought lots of good stuff...and work gloves and pry bars! Somehow he knew that we have shanty buildings on the property to tear down. ;) Oh and yes, my stocking has GNOMES on it!

hanging up my stocking...gotta love the fireplace dvd going (hey Marleen, it's the same one as the DuQuettes had at their house for our Christmas!)

Close-up of tree:

And drumroll please...our tree (one of the better ones we've had and definitely the tallest we've had- no more short mobile home ceilings!). Tree photography lesson: Use a tripod with no flash and play around with your camera settings til you get a good one:

Mariah says Merry Christmas!

We've been collecting Santa cards for a couple years now...grouped items make a cute display!

Hank is thrilled for Christmas:

The house- we did big colored lights this year (last year were icicle lights) which made our brown house look kinda gingerbread-y! Also use a tripod with a long exposure time and no flash for pics like this:

One of my (many) nativity sets...we put nativity sets in the bookcase (along with nativity cards we've gotten over the years). This one was purchased in Utah when I went to John and Nancy's sealing. It's made of very delicate flat pieces of porcelain that you assemble.

Grandmother gave us each a tiny set of Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys (clearly we do not have small children in the house- total choking hazard!). I played with both as a kid, it was fun to make itty itty bitty things!


Friends from church made these signs for everyone in our ward years ago...it says "Santa Stop here....Chaney's have been good all year!" We like to hang it outside.

Merry Christmas 2008!