Sock update!

I have officially overcome sock crisis #1! I went to use the restroom, and when I came back, Munchkin 3 had my sock in her grasp. I'm using the Magic Loop method to make my sock. She had ripped all the stitches off the one needle and had frogged about half the row. Now, this might not seem horrible to a more seasoned knitter...but to me? AAAAAARGH!!! I think I got it fixed with minimal sock damage. Here's a progress update:


It's coming along, slowly but surely. I haven't had as much time to work on it as I would have liked, but that's okay. Once we get moved in and settled, things should go faster. Don't forget to thank a vet!

We're in Colorado!

Wow, is it beautiful here! I haven't been able to concentrate on how pretty it is, because I had a helluva time trying to find us a place to live. That's all over now though. I found us an apartment. It's smaller than what we wanted and is an apartment, not a house...but it's a place to live! It's also in a great spot for us, which is good. This is what I have to live with for the next few years:


Horrible, huh? LOL The snowy one is Pike's Peak. It's not a great picture, but you get the idea. Well, off to put the kids down for a nap. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Sad days and a sock

We are leaving for Colorado in less than a week, and now it is time to start saying adios to the great friends I have made here in Texas. It seems that all of the original "Hoodies" are going there own way. One went to San Antonio, another went to Fort Bragg, we're going to Colorado, and another is staying here for a bit, then headed off to bigger and better things also. Then there's my best friend, Angel. Last night we had dinner together for the last time. She gave me the most beautiful necklace and wallet (which I will take pictures of and post later). We laughed, we cried...and we cried some more. They are headed to Georgia and off to much better things. Her hubby will be stable for 3 years, so no deploying. They really need the break from the deployments. Last night is when I realized why people remain friends, even after moving away. I've never really had a close friend that I stayed in contact with after moving. The only person that I would have kept in contact with is the hubby, and he comes with! Angel, on the other hand, is a different breed of friend. She's there when you need her, and not when you want to be alone. We've been through a lot over the past 3 years. She was there when I had Brooke, and through my pregnancy and the birth of Kaelyn. She helped me through my first deployment and kept my mind of the second. She is someone who will always be important to me, and I can only hope we are stationed together again soon.

Now, before I start crying again...LOOK AT MY SOCK!

I know, it looks familiar, doesn't it? Well, I frogged the first one that I had attempted and went with a different pattern. This time I'm doing The Humble Sock Goes Toe Up by Nikki Burns. I'm having a much easier time with it than the last pattern. I did yarn overs for the toe increases because I just wanted to learn the "how-tos" of sock making. For the next sock, I will definitely do another increase. I knew it wouldn't look great going into it, so I'm not that upset.

Well, off to have lunch with another great friend to say another farewell. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Complete insanity!

OMG! We move to Colorado in just over a week and haven't started packing or even found a place to live yet. It seems that every place we call about that we like has just been rented out. At this point I just want ANY house! We were pushed down the housing list for on post housing, which is dumb as hell.

On a bright note, I got the baby hat done for Munchkin 1's teacher! She loved it. The blanket turned into a burp cloth, since I ran out of time. I don't think she minded.

Well, time to go pack up the kitchen. Hopefully this means no cooking until we get to CO! LOL Yeah right. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Things to be grateful for

Life has been absolutely wonderful! The hubby has taken on a new role at work, and he is succeeding at it. I feel better about myself and have been working on taking better care of my body and mind. We have a few fun things coming up, like Field Day at munchkin 1's school, then her birthday this weekend. They're all getting sooo big! I decided to cut the baby blanket I was making for munchkin 1's teacher short and turn it in to a burp cloth to go along with the hat and socks. Time just got the best of me! Story of my life. LOL Anyway, I'm working on the border right now, so when it's finished I'll post pics here and on Ravelry. It's going to be so cute! This is my first time picking up stitches, so I hope it turns out okay.

Oh! We'll be moving to Colorado at the end of June. We decided to wait a couple weeks longer before making the move to cut down on the time that we'll be without a house up there. We're waiting for post housing to open up, so we'll see what happens! Hopefully we aren't living out of a hotel for months. That would be an adventure. Well, time to finish the blanket/burp cloth. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Blah

Today is just one of those pissy days. I had plans to do some shopping after the hubby got home from work, but that might not happen now because he had a craptastic day at work. It's not his fault, but I was kinda bitchy about it which makes me feel bad. The kids have been fighting with and fussing at each other all day. The stress of the upcoming move to Colorado is starting to weigh on me. I got a call today that said we might not get a house as soon as we had expected. Now it's back to looking for a house we can afford and hoping we find something very soon. There's still an entire house to pack, load, move, and unpack. I'm so looking forward to Colorado, but at this point I'm just over it. *sigh* Hopefully things will work out soon so I can stop stressing and focus on more important things. Blah. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Best Mother's Day EVER!

Yesterday was just a fantastic day. My hubby wished me a Happy Mother's Day first thing in the morning, then watched the girls so I could go out to dinner with friends last night. He took care of dinner for them on his own and made sure they were bathed and ready for bed before I got home. Then as we were lounging on the couch and talking, the doorbell rang. Standing at the door was a man holding these:


Aren't they gorgeous?! It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Wow, a month?!

Holy crap. I was doing so well updating this blog for a while. Then the hubby came home and that all went downhill! :) He's been home for about 5 weeks now and life has been just glorious! We went to NC for a week which was fantastic. We hadn't been home to NC in about 2.5 years. It was so great to see everyone and just have fun with friends. There was also some great news from friends and family up there. The hubby's mom is getting remarried, and she seems to be really happy. One of our best friends is FINALLY having a baby, after trying for a really long time. I need to get on the ball with knitting up some presents! I've done almost NO knitting in the past month. There's only about 6 weeks left before the munchkin gets out of school, and I still need to finish her teacher's baby blanket, hat and socks. Eeeek! There's just been a lot of distractions lately...and there are more on the way! Like this:


That is my new lathe and super pen making starter kit from Penn State Industries. It has everything you need to get started making pens, including the lathe, accessories, and enough blanks and parts to make 40 pens & pencils! Woohoo!! We just ordered it last night, so it will be a few days before it gets here. The hubby has a woodworking workshop out in the garage, so this will let me spend time with him without being in his way. I'm going to con him into making me a lathe table. :)

Well, I think that's about all that's new right now. I'm going to try to keep updating, but no promises as to how often. Don't forget to thank a vet!

So many updates!

Sorry I've been away for so long, but it's been for good reason! My husband is HOME! Yes, home. As in here, in my arms. Okay, not at the moment, but you get what I'm saying. :) It is so awesome having him home. He finally made it home on March 16th after being in transit for over a week. The wait was horrible but sooo worth it! Here's a quick shot of the sign I made for him:


Nice, huh? That's over 70 feet of homecoming goodness. On a sad note, the wind ripped it down before he got to see the whole thing, but he got to see pictures. We had also made a couple other signs that he got to see.

Since my husband has come home, we've started doing a lot of reorganizing of the house and cleaning. We're moving to Colorado in a few months and trying to condense our stuff to as little as possible! I took it upon myself to reorganize my knitting needles. I have the KnitPicks Options interchangeable knitting needles. They used to come in a book that looked like a planner, but then they went to a plastic storage case. I like the book idea, so I bought one. Unfortunately it wasn't as great as I thought. The book was a bit too small for what I wanted and had some zipper problems. So what did I do? I went to Walmart and bought THIS:


Here's an inside shot. Each set of tips has its own spot, plus a place for cables. I even have my sock circulars for Magic Loop in there! Check it out:


I am so in love with all the pockets and places to put things. I have the pattern for the socks I'm working on in the front pocket on the outside of the case. It even has some paper for jotting down notes and a pen holder, since it was originally a planner. The handles retract so I can stick it in my purse and have ALL my needles at my fingertips! Except for those that are tangled up in other projects, of course. LOL

Speaking of other projects, check out my first pair of socks! The pattern was written for toe-up, two-at-a-time Magic Loop, but I am only doing one at a time to learn. Here they are in Mermaid Lagoon:


Well, that's about everything for now. Soon my hubby will be getting his workshop together. I'll be sure to give you the tour and show off the fabulous things he makes me. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Waiting

My husband should be home in a few days. Yes, I said DAYS! We were hoping for a certain date, but I was told today that there was a sandstorm. They may not have been able to fly out, which means that they'll be here later. I still haven't heard from my husband, so I guess I'll just have to keep waiting. I'm really hoping to hear from him sometime tonight and for him to tell me he was able to get out of the country.

There's so much stuff left to do. I still need to clean the house and finish signs. However, I'm having a hard time getting motivated. I'm afraid that if I get everything done, his homecoming will get pushed back. Plus, I work better under pressure anyway! :) Back to work. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Busy, busy, busy!

Eeeek! We're getting so close to Homecoming! The husband should be home in less days than I have fingers. Woohoo! I still have a house to scrub, laundry to do, food to buy...all kinds of stuff. I received my order today, and the Imagination sock yarn I got from KnitPicks is even softer and more yummy than I had hoped! I just placed another order for some odds and ends and some more yarn, this time in Unicorn. Wanna see? Here it is:


Isn't it so girly and awesome?! I might make the girls some socks, but it'll probably end up as another pair for me. :) Well, back to work. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Excited, yet terrified

For the past day or two, my husband and I have been discussing an idea I approached him with. I guess I should start at the beginning. Recently, I ordered some beautiful new sock yarn from KnitPicks. I am waiting on my Imagination sock yarn in Mermaid Lagoon. Isn't it beautiful?



I can't wait to get my hands on it! This will be my first attempt at socks, and I am really, really excited! You must be asking, what does this have to do with being terrified? LOL Aside from worrying about frogging the heck out of my first socks, nothing. I'm getting to my point. Anyway, I started looking online for a swift and a ball winder. It's amazing how expensive some yarn swifts are! Then I started thinking...my husband has wanted to get some woodworking tools and set up a workshop for a long time now. We are going to have some extra money soon, so why not suggest he buy them? He works so hard for our family, it's about time he has something for himself. So, I mentioned that I had been looking online and suggested that he could have a little side business making some different items that we could sell online. He loved the idea! So now we are getting things together to start our own business! It's really exciting, but also pretty scary. I mean, luckily there is little risk involved for us. He enjoys woodworking, so he'll use any tools or wood that we buy. Eventually I'd like to learn to spin and expand our business to spindles and possibly even handspun and hand-dyed yarns! However, if it didn't sell, I could just knit with it myself. Oh no! LOL I think it will be okay...but it's still a bit terrifying. Only time will tell! Don't forget to thank a vet!

He's coming home!!

Wow, it just hit me today how soon my hubby is coming home! It still feels like forever, but in reality, it's not that far away! I still have so many things that need to be done around here. Lots of cleaning to do, signs to paint, laundry, shopping...you get the idea. He should hopefully be home by St Patrick's Day!! Lucky me!! I still have lots of schoolwork to do on top of everything else. We're also planning a trip to NC for April. I'm just so ready to have him home!

Oh, on another note - my birthday is tomorrow! Happy Birthday to me! Even though I'm going to be 24, I still love my birthday and love making a big deal about it. I'll probably bake myself a cake tomorrow. :) It would be fantastic if Joe was going to be home, but since he's coming home 3 months earlier than planned, I'm NOT complaining!

By the way, has anyone seen the movie Spectacular on Nickelodeon? I am so in love with this movie for some reason! Maybe it's because I love musicals, I dunno. I just downloaded the soundtrack from iTunes and was rocking out to it while I cleaned the living room. Speaking of which, I need to make my shopping list so I can get back to cleaning. Don't forget to thank a vet!

The flu and a clean house!

The past week has been pretty rough. First the kids got sick, one by one. Then when they started feeling better, I got sick. It was the worst I've felt in a very long time. My head throbbed, my body ached, and my neck hurt so bad. My throat was incredibly swollen (it still is a little) and sore. Ugh. Then top that off with 3 days of a fever, and you had me over the weekend. The only highlights were getting to talk to Joe quite a bit. And of course, getting my new phone, which I am sooo in love with.

On a more positive note, I finally got my living room cleaned today. It looked like a disaster area from when I was sick and didn't feel like cleaning. It's amazing how quickly one room can go to hell when you are sick and the kids are running around like crazies. Today I finally got around to cleaning it and now it looks great. I've never been a person who enjoys cleaning. I don't live in filth, but my house usually has a decent level of clutter at all times. Over the past year or so, I've noticed that I start to get antsy when the house is a mess. Like the walls are closing in on me or something. It's really weird, but good! Now my house stays fairly clean. The husband will like it when he comes home. He used to get a bit frustrated with my cleaning habits. :) Don't forget to thank a vet!

It's coming!

My husband surprised me this morning with my Valentine's Day present a little early. He had to tell me sooner than he wanted because it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Are you dying to know what it is?! Well I'm dying to tell you! It's a Blackberry Storm!! He got one too. In case you don't know, here's what it looks like:

I'm so excited to get it!! Hopefully it will show up early tomorrow. I have the best husband ever! He's so amazingly awesome! Well, it's about time to dress the kids and go to the store. Don't forget to thank a vet!

So busy!

I've been meaning to post for a few days, but things have been really busy around here. I'm still working on schoolwork, which takes a lot of my time. Factor in the kids and Joe's upcoming homecoming (yaaaaay!), and it equals insanity! I did find out that I have about 2 weeks longer to finish this course than I initially thought. That makes things somewhat easier, but not much. I did get a chance to start on the blanket I'm making for Bella's teacher. I've only got about 2 inches done, since I don't have much time to work on it. Oh well, there's still plenty of time to finish it. Oh! I got new glasses! They are really helping with the headaches. I find myself wearing them more and more, so I'm glad I went with the ones I liked. Maybe sometime soon I'll get around to posting a picture of them and my blanket progress. That's about all for now. Don't forget to thank a vet!

A bunch of random stuff!

All I can say about that game is WOW! It was heart-pounding hard hitting action. I was standing up and yelling at my TV the whole 4th quarter. I found the great picture above on Photobucket and just had to share it. Click here for the original. It's days like these that make me miss living in Pittsburgh so very much. The schools even had a 2 hour delay this morning because of the game last night! How awesome is that?! We take Steelers pride very seriously in Pittsburgh!

What other good news do I have to share? Just the most important thing ever! My wonderful husband called this morning and told me when his flight leaves to come home. I am sooo excited that he'll be home soon. He's been gone way too long. Of course, things will change a little bit between now and then, but it should be pretty close to what he told me today. Yaaaaaay!

I also got a LOT of our bills paid off, so we should be in a better place financially when the hubby comes home. Exciting! I guess that's what happens when you have 3 kids. It makes a tax return kick ass! :) I got to tell the hubby about it today on the phone, and he was so excited! I love making him proud.

Well, I think that's all the good news for today. I've been on Cloud 9 all day. Don't forget to thank a vet!

Next month!

HOLY CRAP! It's February. Not only do I turn 24 this month, but my husband comes home NEXT MONTH! I have sooo much to get done. This is going to be a real time crunch. How I am looking forward to having that man home! I have lots to do, so I can't write a lot now. I'll make a longer post later. One last thing before I go...how about them STEELERS?!?! First to 6, baby! Don't forget to thank a vet!

A good day!

Today was so nice. I went to Walmart this morning to do some shopping, and Brooke didn't throw a fit. This is a minor miracle. After I came home, I put away the groceries and worked on some more schoolwork. I got my Medical Language reading out of the way before leaving to get Bella from school. Pasha got into the van with only a little prodding for our trip to Petsmart. She behaved so well inside Petsmart, walking right beside me as I pushed the girls in the cart. Then when we loaded back into the van, she hopped right in! Yaaaay! It's been about 6 weeks since we adopted her, and this was the first time she's hopped right in. Success!! After we dropped her off at home, the girls and I went to Burger King to eat and play. The girls ate well, played well, and didn't put up a fuss when it was time to go. Then when we got home, I checked my email and my assignment was waiting for me. I did sooo much better this time! The mistakes I made were minor and my instructor complimented me. :) Oh! We also got our tax refund today, so I got to pay off some debt. That will make Joe very happy! Days like today are what make the rest bearable. Don't forget to thank a vet!

It's here!

My Lion Brand Cotton-Ease showed up today, 2 days earlier than Joann.com said it would. Oh how I love it when stuff comes early! I'm a bit surprised at how small the skeins seem. According to the pattern, it will be enough. We'll see how it goes! :) Here's a picture of my new yarn:



Sorry about the crappy picture. By the time I finished my schoolwork for tonight, it was already after dark. Not like we had much sunlight today. Anyway, don't you think this is going to make the cutest baby blanket for a baby girl?! I like the taupe trim on the berry blanket. Add the little hat and socks and it'll be way too precious. I just hope that between school, the kids, Joe coming home, and block leave, I can get it done before we either PCS or the school year is over. Craziness! Don't forget to thank a vet!