Aaaaand, we're back

Back from my wonderful summer at camp and ready for the fall. The big news just all came in at once, and I've been too busy to post!

1) I got engaged to a charming young man, and we're going to get married on October 27. Yes, of this year. I've already done a ton of planning for the wedding, and I'm really excited about it.

2) I got a job in DC where the fiance lives. I don't start until December (hence, the wedding while I didn't have to worry about time off).

3) I got a freelance job in Atlanta so that I can still earn a little money while I plan the wedding.

With all that on my plate, I haven't been doing much else lately. But, I have been plugging away at my Clessidra stockings, and I just turned my second heel. I'm also about to cast on for a stole for my mother (shhh, it's a surprise), Harry Potter Quiddich socks for me and a friend, and mittens for my brother. I feel like I should start something for the new mister too, but I just don't have the time right now. Any way, that's all for now! Big things are happening and I'm excited to be along for the ride. :)

Give 'em the finger

You Are the Thumb

You're unique and flexible. And you defy any category. Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well. You are a natural leader... but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few. You get along well with: The Middle Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

What Finger Are You?

Off to Camp!

So, today is my last day in civilization for the next two months. This isn't a bad thing though, 'cause I'm going to camp! Camp Juliette Low has been my summer destination since I was 8. If you add up all the time I've been there as a camper, CIT, and counselor, I've spent over a year of my life on Lookout Mountain. Yes, I love it so much that I'm still looking forward to living in a tent and hanging out with the small children. This year I'm moving into Olympus (that's the counselor only unit), so I won't have to be directly responsible for the kids unless they're in my class. I'm hoping to have a little bit of downtime with which to work on my Clessidra stockings and possibly start my Orchid scarf.

My job this summer is to be the Project Adventure director. For those of you who don't know, PA includes trust activities, strategic puzzles, and climbing way up in the trees to do crazy things like walk across a log. 'Cause it's more fun to do it 30 feet up than on the ground, of course. Actually, I'm scared of heights, and I have to put up all of the equipment before the kids get on it. Eeep!

Really, the only downside to this job is the lack of internet and phones. So, if you want to be awesome, you will send me mail.

See y'all in August!

"In your life...be bold, be silly, speak your mind, behave in camp-like fashion, and if things don't go well...blame your Inner Child." --Sara Beth Hitt

Cutest pooch!

I was flipping through my RSS reader today, and what did I find on Cute Overload but my friend's dog Scooby! Congrats Amy on making your pooch a star!

Cooking Revue

My kitchen has been crazy the past two weeks. I've eaten great food, no doubt about it. I've probably gained weight too. The kitchen has been a buzz of activity with people coming and going (and singing). My dog isn't quite sure what to make of it all, but people give her treats, so she stays.

Some of my accomplishments:

Last night I made blackberry cobbler from a rather incomplete recipe found in my mother's recipe box. No indication of what size (or kind) of dish to cook it in, which made it a little tricky. It could have come from Paula Deen too... first ingredient: 1 stick of butter.

I learned how to make tortillas from the Mexican guy staying with us. It's super duper easy, and I can't believe I've never done this before. Right now I'm only making corn tortillas, but I hope to soon learn the art of flour tortillas too.

This weekend I helped my mom make homemade pasta. A little more time consuming, but worth it.

Finally, the past two Friday nights I made pizza dough for homemade pizzas. Talk about tasty! Again, the dough was easy, and I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I got the recipe from Barbara Kingsolver. What she did not offer though, was my great Mexican themed pizza that had salsa verde and chicken on it. Why have I not cooked with that many jalepenos before?

That's just a sample of the culinary masterpieces. I have a few pictures, but they have not yet made it up to my computer. Maybe I'll get it done before I head off to camp (send me letters people!)

I'm a real librarian!

So, my stalking of Craigslist has finally paid off - tomorrow morning I'm going to go pick up my very own card catalog! I've been looking for one of these for quite a while, and the double bonus is that this one is very cheap! I think it needs some refinishing work (the picture they sent me was a bit blurry), but I'm willing to do that. Check it out:

Fiesta!

Yes, it's been quite a while since I've taken the time to post, mainly because I had to pack up everything in my apartment and move home. I still don't have a good way to access the internet in my house (go to the basement, use the hook-up in the kitchen). My father hasn't figured out that he could put in a wireless router and make me happy.

But... I did graduate! Hooray!

All of my stuff is in storage in Durham - I hope it's all right. I only had a 10x10 ft. space to store my things, so the movers really had to pack things in. It is floor to ceiling crammed with boxes. I figure if I'm paying for the space I might as well use it.

Since I've been home, I've mainly been relaxing and taking things easy. Today I mailed off a bunch of packages to friends around the world. Hopefully they will all get there pretty soon.

My dad is an engineer, and one of his Mexican workers has been staying with us this week. I can't really communicate with him (his English is much better than my Spanish though), but he's been very friendly. Twice this week he has cooked us dinner, and it has been fabulous both times! Sunday night we had picadillo (beef with corn and potatoes) and tonight we had some national dish made with beef, onions, tomatoes, and jalepenos. Oh, and he taught my mom how to make real tortillas, and we had guacamole. So very very tasty. I'm really full, but I would love to eat more. My goal is to start eating a lot more peppers in my food. Yum city.

I'm really going to graduate!

Last night was a good one for my academic career. For one thing, I turned in the final assignment for my final class. Even though I almost cried during my group's presentation (yes, it was that bad. No, the presenter had no idea what he was talking about. Yes he made asinine comments with no research to back it up.), that class is over now and I'm done with school. Yay! I also went out and bought all of my regalia. I debated on actually buying it or just borrowing, but in the long run I'm sure I'll use it again (even if it's just for a costume). It was such a good feeling to come home and try on my hood and know that I'm really getting a Masters degree!

Good luck to all of my friends who still have papers and projects to do! I'm cheering for you!

I'm very excited now, because I think I'll have time to knit again. Well, in between the packing. I think I'll have to set up some sort of self bribery system to be motivated enough to clean around the apartment. I only have two more rounds of hourglass cable left on my knee socks, and I can hardly wait to start working on the heel!

May Day!

First, Happy Birthday Mom!

Next - it's May! How did that sneak up on me? I graduate in 12 days and move in 13. There are boxes (empty) everywhere, and an ample amount of stuff to fill them. Luckly, my last class is tonight (finally, the evil group work will be done). Only three more days of work left too. My life is full of numbers now. Again, I say - cra-hazy.

Just say no to consumerism

My sad sad sad bank account informs me that when I pay rent, utilities, and my credit card bill this month, I will have approximately $13 left to my name. Although I would be horribly shocked by this, all of my purchases really do seem justified. I don't usually buy a lot for myself, and this month isn't much of an exception. However, I did have to: pay federal and state taxes (boo), buy meds for the dog, and take a CPR/First Aid class. That cost over $1,000, but luckily I always strive to have that much extra to pad my account (not that it always works that way, but I try). I think I might have to deposit my birthday money in the bank account just in case though. So sad! Maybe at the end of the summer I'll have enough for a Wii...

I can has cheesecake

My mother received an email today from some Brazilian friends of my cousin raving about her cheesecake. Backstory: My cousin spent time in Brazil for work, and his new buddies came to the States to visit. They had heard good things about "cheesecake" and wanted to try some. My mom, being world renowned for her baking, was asked to produce said cake. The Brazilians apparently thought it was great and sent her this compliment:

Very obliged for its Cheese Cake, it mutch but good was
delicious.....very exactly wonderful.

Please don't get me wrong... I don't mean to poke fun at his English skills. I'm sure I sound the same when I try to speak German. I just am in love with the phrase "very exactly wonderful." I hope to one day do something that well myself.

Random picture of campus:

Isn't UNC pretty in the spring?

Feast for the eyes

I finally got around to uploading the pretty Atlanta in spring pictures, and I wanted to share my two favorites. The first one is one of the first yards you see when you enter the neighborhood, and the second is my house. I'm obviously having a little trouble getting the spacing right, but it's pretty anyways!


The other fun thing I saw today were ducklings! Sophie and I went for a walk by the lake and saw these babies. They must have just been hatched, otherwise I suspect they might not have survived the foul weather this weekend. I don't think the killdeer parents made it. There was no sign of a nest this morning when I went to work.


P.S. - CPR and First Aid certified! I can save your life!

Hippity hop

I drove down to the ATL for Easter, and other than being COLD it was very pretty! All of the azeleas and dogwoods were in bloom, and there wasn't much yellow pollen in the air at all! (Sidebar: for those of you not from Atlanta, we have "yellow season" every spring. A "high" day for pollen is a count over 120. This year, Atlanta had a 6,000+ day. I love my city. And I don't have allergies!) I'm still a slacker and haven't uploaded my photos yet, but believe you me, it was nice. I sang and played handbells and had myself a grand time.

Handbell story: One of the pieces we played was slow and pretty (not joyful and triumphant!) and was done with the choir. The choir wasn't getting it, so we had to play it for 45 minutes! Our organist was playing the bells next to mine, and being the musical genius that he is, he was making up notes! When I pointed this out to him, he began making up notes for me too! Quite fun. However, he first asked me how I could tell he was just playing whatever he wanted, and I responded "I know how to read music." Perhaps it was a "had to be there" moment, but we had trouble keeping a straight face every time we saw each other for the next two days.

The Knitting Post

Here we go on the knitting front! First, check out my Clessidra progress:

It's not a lot since last time, but I'm pretty happy with it. The small needles just feel right in my hands when I pick them up, and the cables are lots of fun. I hope to have more quality time to spend here in a few short weeks.

Other projects that are occupying my time include this lovely baby bib and log cabin quilt, both from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm using the Peaches & Creme yarn that they recommend, and it seems to work well. I'm almost done with the bib (might even finish it later tonight), and then I'll throw it in the wash and see what the final product looks like.

The quilt is for the boy's sister who has decided to attend U(sic)GA. See how nice of a person I am? It was really hard to find anything that would look good in those colors, but I did my best. :) This project is on hold until I get some longer circulars, but it's just knit, knit, knit, so it should be done by graduation.

Wonderful Weekend (and more!)

This past weekend, I went up to D.C. to visit the boy and enjoy the spring. We got up early Saturday and headed down to the Tidal Basin to take in the cherry blossoms. There are lots of pictures, but I haven't had a chance to upload them yet... look for them soon. After we'd had our fill of flowers, we headed to the Mall for the National Kite Festival. There were lots of professional kite flyers, but more than that were the tons of people like me who were out there for fun. We grabbed a spot of grass and launched our little borrowed Discovery Kids kite. It worked great! That little thing could fly, and high too! There are pics of the kites to come as well. The nicest thing was that if a kite fell on your head (or your kite fell on someone else, or you got tangled, etc.) was that no one cared! Everyone was just relaxed and having a good time. It was great!

I also realized I'm coming close to having knitting ADD. I cast on my third project on a month or so, and I haven't finished any of them yet. To be fair, the socks are my fun project and the other two are gifts with a deadline (graduation present for May and baby shower present for next week). There will be pictures of those projects soon too.

Last, but not least, I passed comps! Whoo! Not that there was any real worry, but it was still nice to get the letter and be able to cross it off the list.

Gov Kitty

Ellen, I made a title for your paper.

Photo source: julieneal

It's done!

Today... I turned in my masters paper! Hooray! When I went to get my advisor's signature, he teased me about not being able to stop smiling. And it's true! I'm insanely giddy and very excited about being done. Only two more classes to go and then I graduate. :)

Knitting antedote of the day: I went to my LYS to buy some big needles to work on a cotton blanket (Log Cabin style from MasonDixon Knitting) for the bf's sister (who is graduating in May from high school). I figured doing lots and lots of garter stitch would be an appropriate mindnumbing task when I needed a break from cabling. So, I walk in and go to the needle wall. There were lots of huge and tiny needles, but really nothing in the midsize range. I found one set of 7s, but it was bamboo. Since I tend to knit tightly, I was hoping to find some metal needles to help with sliding and picking up stitches. I asked the shopkeeper about them, and her response: "I don't carry metal needles. I don't like the 'click clack' noise they make." Say what?

We're on the eve of destruction

Good Masters Paper news today! I got an email from my advisor saying:

"I sat on the deck at home and read your master’s paper yesterday, Ashley. It certainly isn’t a “rough draft”. It is the final paper. Just read through it one more time for any editing needed (I saw none) and you are ready to produce the final copy. It is a SUPER paper. Well-written and very interesting. Congratulations on a paper extremely well-done. It was a pleasure to read it."

So Whoohoo! I was super giddy when I got that. And really, giddy is the only way I could think of to describe it. A little tweaking of the formatting and I'm through!

Sophie thought it was high time I was done. She apparently got fed up with me being on the computer tonight, 'cause she ATE a library book. Seriously. I heard her knawing on something, and by the time my brain realized that I hadn't given her a bone, she had done a good job of removing the spine. And yet, she's so cute it's hard to stay mad at her.

Oh my Sunday!

Man, what a weekend it's been...

1) No word back on the Paper. This has enabled me to have a fabulous weekend with my dog. I'm sure I'll be freaking out about it later in the week, but I tried not to think about that. The pooch and I went on several long walks - in the woods, in the neighborhoods, by the creek, etc. Many pictures were taken, and I'm sure they will be uploaded later in the week.

2) Many Larabars were consumed this weekend. I keep seeing Pistachio on their website (and blog, yes, I read their blog). However, I can't find Pistachio in my local stores! I demand this delicious flavor to be delivered! In other news, I haven't found a Larabar flavor that is not delicious. And they don't have sugar!

3) Much progress was made on the knitting today while I watched basketball. I'm through the third leg decrease, but my fingers are begging me to take a break from the tiny needles. Hopefully my new yarn will come soon and I can start my log cabin quilt.

4) Blackboard was down all day, so I wasn't able to do any work for the online class. Bleh. I hope the profs are a little bit understanding of this.

5) Finally, the UNC basketball season has come to a very sad and dramatic end. I'm glad I watched it alone where only my dog could hear me curse at the TV.

Spring (part 2)

Along with the flowers are the birds and the bees! The bees in this thought are the bumblebees that have come out to buzz by me and the pup on our walks. So far she hasn't caught one, but she's come close! I've always liked bumblebees, and honeybees too - in fact, if I weren't so afraid of needles, that is what I would get a tattoo of. Bzzzzzz!

The birds mentioned above are nesting. Specifically, I want to share this picture of a mama killdeer on its nest. It wasn't too happy about me coming over with my camera, and it kept puffing up its feathers. Unfortunately, I never got a good picture of that. If you look closely on the ground behind it, you'll see four eggs. They look like grey pebbles. I can't wait to see the babies when they hatch!