Christmas blues

Long time, no blog! The rush of Christmas is over I suppose. It's really very sad. So much excitement and then it's over in just a few short days. I was sitting with my family two days ago and a thought came to my mind: I don't really remember what my normal life is like! But I'm remembering now. We have had such a wonderful break so far (despite a minor car accident), and this week will be great as well! I want to do a full post with lots of pictures, which I don't have right now. So this is basically a check-in post. We're here, we're alive. Kind of wishing all of our friends would come back into town! Hurry home!

Things I'm looking for:
-A new smell. Out of perfume!
-Some good goals for 2011
-Good book recommendations
-A JOB

Over and out.

Now, since that's out of the way...

We can move on from finals to better things, like Christmas!! I finished my last final around noon today, and it's been a celebration ever since (well, for me). Tyler and I got Panda on the way home from campus, then I let him continue studying. Poor guy still has one test left. While he worked, I went to the store and got some fabric and other things. I just completed my first sewing project in a long time! Credit for this goes to Gretchen, my generous mother-in-law, for letting me borrow her sewing machine. Also, to makeit-loveit.com, for providing the idea for this project: stockings! Finally, we have something to hang by the _________ with care (still haven't figured out where to put them)!

Something masculine for him

And a little ruffle for me


These are made out of burlap on bottom, cotton on top. I really like the texture of the burlap. Well, not to feel, but to look at! There are just way too many Christmas crafts that I could use to decorate... trying really hard to control myself! Doesn't seem to be working, huh?

Memories

This is still one of my favorite pictures. I just love him.

Preparing

*Yes, those flash cards are all written on. All for one stinkin' class. Guess which one??

A guide for preparing for final exams at BYU:

-Keep your Pandora station on "Holiday Instrumental." Helps to keep me calm, collected, and focused on the end goal (which is, finishing so I can get on with Christmas!!)

-Have the Testing Center website open. They update the site with a picture of the current line to take tests- optimal for taking advantage of rare short lines

-Wash all of your sweats and comfy clothes the weekend before, so you don't have to worry about deciding what to wear when you're focusing on things like subtractive synthesis of sound and striations of skeletal and smooth muscle.

-Stock your freezer and fridge with quick and easy meals for the week. Let the holiday weight-gain begin a little early this year! :)

This week is so exciting! Mostly because it will happen, and then it will be done. And then my life will be all about family, food, and fun. Bring it!

Winding down and gearing up

Last day of classes for the semester! I can't believe how quickly these last few months have passed. We are having a strange warm spell, and there's no snow on the ground! Which I guess is helping me not get so distracted with Christmas excitement- but it better start dumping after next week! :) Snow gets me in the holiday spirit. We're getting ready to take finals- I love it! It gives me such a sense of completion and accomplishment to study all the information I've been cramming into my brain and then spit it all out on a scantron. I'm still trying to decide which strategy I'm going to use- take all the hard ones first, get the easy ones out of the way, do multiple finals a day, or spread them out over the whole week. I know anatomy will be one of the first ones I take, if not the first, but the rest are a mystery.

Anyway- enough about school. On to the only other thing I've been doing with my life lately- crocheting! I feel like it is dominating my spare time. This wouldn't be a problem if my projects would turn out right! Every headband I make lately is either too long or too wide. That's a ton of time lost re-doing stuff. No bueno. However, I'm a little obsessed with baby-wear (see below)... seems to be all I can successfully crochet these days!

Also, I've discovered something awesome about my laptop. My friend recently showed me how to change the display so that my background picture changes every 5 minutes and it's amazing! Brings up so many great memories. You should try it.

Sugar, spice, and everything nice

That's what my new little niece is made of! Little Madison Lynn was born early Sunday morning. My theory is: she saw me crocheting from heaven on Saturday night and had to come down so she could wear these:





Congratulations, Kenny and Lindsay!

Another Christmas craft project

Christmas decorating can be, well, super-expensive. I saw a wreath like this and decided I could probably make it... so I did! Thanks to the dollar store for supplying the ornaments for this wreath for less than $10. Awesome.


There's lots of ways to make this wreath, but I chose hot-gluing. I used a 12" foam wreath, then wrapped it with gold tinsel garland, gluing periodically. Then you don't see the nasty barf-green color when there's random space in the wreath. Make sure you tie a wire around for hanging before you start gluing on ornament balls, it would be tough after that. I used 4 different sizes of balls- some glittery, one striped, some solid. Now our front door is merry and bright too!