A wonderful trip...

So I'm back on campus after an amazing trip to Missouri. I flew into Kansas City on Tuesday evening and was met by Mark and Alex. (My flight got delayed for engine problems, and we had to get a new plane, so I got in around 11:30 pm rather than the projected 9:30 pm arrival time.) We drove to Gallatin, where Alex gave me her room for the duration of my stay. Do you know how good a comfortable bed feels after sleeping on a dorm room bed for three months? It was great.

On Wednesday I hung out with Alex and CJ all day, watching TV, playing Wii, and playing board games. Then we got up early Thursday morning and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone was so surprised and happy to see me, and it was so great to see everyone. The food was awesome, too. We stayed there all day and then Alex and I headed home with Lisa.

We got up super early on Friday morning to go Black Friday shopping. We hit Walmart first, which was crazy packed. We ran into Aunt Penny, Cody, and Michelle there, which was kind of funny. I bought a new winter coat, since I don't wear the huge one I have. It was $15, but it's actually an outer coat and an inner coat (and the inner one is reversible) so you can wear it in pretty much any weather. We stayed in Columbia shopping all morning, and when we finally got back to Lisa's house we all took naps.

Friday night, we headed over to Tina's house for game night. I took this picture outside of Lisa's house.

It was an incredible sunset. Especially when I haven't seen a sunset in over three months. Here at school, the sun goes down behind the mountains, which is pretty, but doesn't really light up the sky with gorgeous colors.

At Tina's house, we had a ton of fun. We played games and talked and laughed and took pictures.

I met this sweet little girl. She's Brian's sister's daughter, and she was too cute.

(Can you believe how big Jacob is? I think he was still a toddler last time I saw him.)

And then Lisa with a halo. (I was pretending she was an angel. It did take a lot of imagination.)

On Saturday we got up and got ready to head back to Gallatin.

On the way, we picked up Madison, Tisha's gorgeous baby girl.

We also stopped by Andy and Michelle's house for another family get together/Thanksgiving dinner, with more great food. Then I said goodbye to everyone and we got on the road to Gallatin. Saturday night we played games, went out and ate fajitas for dinner, and took pictures of Madison.

(The face she makes for Lisa.)

(The face she makes for me.) :)

I think Madison looks a lot like Travis, but in this picture I think she looks a little like Grandma, lol.

This morning, Lisa, Madison, and I got up really early and headed for the airport. I had an uneventful flight home and am now back in my dorm room, not wanting to go to class tomorrow morning. Oh well. Only three weeks until I come home for Christmas! The craft fair is this weekend, so I'll be very busy this week.

I really want to thank everyone who made my trip to Missouri both possible and amazing, especially Aunt Lisa. I love you!

A crocheted cheeseburger?

With the craft fair coming up so soon (only 13 days!) I really need to step up the crocheting. One reason I haven't been blogging so much lately is because I've been doing so much crafting. I did take a little break from craft fair stuff to work on some crocheted food that I'm trading to another crafter for some christmas gifts. First, a bowl of blackberries...
A bowl of strawberries...

A bowl of eggs...

A bowl of chicken nuggets...

A plump, juicy hot dog...

And the coolest part, in my opinion, a cheeseburger...

And here are all the pieces of the burger...

I still have some craft fair stuff to show you, though. These snowmen just make me smile. Their faces are so sweet!

A cool jellyfish...

I've actually made several jellyfish, but most of them look more like this guy with curly tentacles.

I created this little toad pattern in the dark while analyzing a movie in class one day, and I didn't know how he would really look, but I like it! His fat little belly is so cute.

Two colorful fish...

And a reindeer ornament. (See the yarn hanger?) I've done a snowman ornament, too.

So you see, I have been busy! I start a new class on Monday, a sociology class titled Inequality. I'm not super excited, but there really weren't any classes that excited me to choose from. With the budget cuts here on campus, many of the more fun classes or classes in smaller departments have been cancelled. So if I wanted to take a biology class, I would have lots of options, but if I wanted to take a Southwest Studies class, I only have one choice. (I thought about taking that class, but I've had the professor before and I didn't really like her.) Hopefully this class will turn out better than I'm expecting, though.

New hair...

Tell me what you think because I still haven't gotten used to it!

(But don't you just love my posed picture fake smile?)

Back to writing patterns...

I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween! I know I did...there was a Halloween video dance party in the student center here on campus with free pizza and candy and two djs, karaoke, and five gazillion people all dressed up in crazy costumes. I saw at least 7 people dressed up as swine flu. :)

In addition to the Halloween festivities, this weekend I continued crocheting. I get bored with making the same things over and over, though, so I decided to create a couple new patterns. This dinosaur is a little bit of a remake of last year's dino, just improved (I think) and a little smaller. I was smart and wrote down the all the steps of the pattern as I went along, so I can make him and the other two again and again, exactly the same! I'm contemplating bright blue spots, what do you think?

He just looks like he's missing something...

Even though he is happy! (I wasn't sure how the pattern would turn out, so I didn't waste any of my safety eyes, I just used yarn. It doesn't look as good, but it's cheaper!)

I also whipped up this cute little butterfly. I think I want antennae, I'm just not quite sure how I want to do that.

And then this guy. He's my favorite. Maybe my favorite EVER. I just adore his sweet little face. He's the cutest thing I've seen/made in a long time.

Don't you think he's adorable?

And his cute little upturned tail...so sweet!

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a little bit obsessed with him. (Do any of my brilliant nieces or nephews want to name him? I don't name everything, but he deserves one.) I almost want to keep him and not sell him. I'm already imagining all the different color combos I could make.

And lastly, the box is getting more full! I keep all my completed creations stuffed in this box. (Yes, there are some things in there that I haven't shown you all, like three little birds, six eggs/chicks, two lambs, two koalas, and more. I just can't update the blog every time I make something, or I would be posting every day. We wouldn't want that, now would we?)

Wish me luck this evening and tomorrow...I'm writing my first paper for this class, a 5-pager. Plus my professor is an English professor when he's not teaching Westerns and other film studies classes, so it needs to be a very well-written paper. Ugh. :)

If you thought the hedgehog was cute...

Then you might think this guy is, too!

In case you can't tell, he's a beaver. And he is much cuter in person.

I also have two birds for you today, one little duckling...

And one fat penguin...

And two more cup cozies. I just really like making them. It goes fast, and I get to use the sewing machine!

We've been having cold, snowy, windy weather all week- hopefully it's nicer where you are! I started my new class, and I'm loving it. I enjoy the Westerns we're watching and my professor is hilarious. Also, he lets me crochet during class, and then I crochet when I'm watching the movie later on (normally in my room), so that's five hours of guaranteed crochet time five days a week. It's really helping me make some progress on my goal for things made for the craft fair.

What are everyone's plans for Halloween weekend? There's a ton of stuff going on around campus, and I'm sure I'll do some of it, like the free bbq's, three different haunted houses, and the big dance party tomorrow night. Everyone really goes all out for Halloween on campus, even if I don't. I'm meeting with Megan later to try to figure out cheap and easy to make costumes. We'll see. I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween and a great weekend!

Major happenings over Block Break...

So, second block is over! I had a fabulous time mentoring kids at Harrison Alternative Schools, and I'm hoping to continue if I can get a ride over there a couple of times a week. Robert came to visit for block break (he actually just got in a cab to go back to the airport) and we had so much fun.

Wednesday night we hosted a little get together here at the CC Inn for some people from my class and whoever they wanted to bring. We had a taco bar and talked and watched tv for a while. It was really great. Then most of us drove over to the movie theater where we watched Zombieland. I don't like scary movies, and I thought it was going to be scary, but it wasn't at all. It was hilarious. We were all laughing through the whole movie.

Thursday night Rob and I went out to eat with one of his video game friends who lives in Denver. Chris drove down to meet us. I thought it would be weird since neither of us had ever met the guy and Robert just plays Final Fantasy with him, but it was great- really comfortable and fun. He seems like a really cool guy. We went to Phantom Canyon Brewing Company for dinner, a semi-fancy restaurant downtown with the "best billiards hall in town" on the second floor. The guys ate huge steaks and I had pork chops and then we went upstairs to play some pool and talk. It was a really fun night.

Yesterday, Rob and I met my friend Megan for lunch and we walked to Panino's (yes, Mom and Trudy, Panino's like we went to on vacation, only the one by campus). The food was great and we decided that since the weather outside wasn't too bad, we would go hiking. The three of us and Megan's friend, Bridget, piled into Bridget's roommate's car and we drove up Gold Camp Road. Gold Camp Road kind of winds up a mountain, and has tremendous views. You drive through tunnels built into the mountain and it was really cool. There was a lot of snow up there, too, and I was wishing I had brought my camera. After driving to the top we hiked up a trail to a gorgeous waterfall that had a bridge and overlook at the top. It was so pretty. You could see all of Colorado Springs in the distance. After heading back, we all separated for dinner and then met back up to go to a CC Tigers Hockey game. We beat Michigan Tech 4-1 and it was pretty loud and crazy the whole game. I was glad that Robert got to go see it. When we got back to campus, Rob and I hung out with Megan in Mathias (the upperclass dorm where she is an RA) and played pool. Then we walked back to the Inn.

Robert and I were just sitting around talking, I was whining about him having to leave so soon, and asking why he couldn't stay longer, when he pops out a ring and says, "Look, crybaby, will you marry me?" Evidently he had been planning this whole romantic thing, but since I wouldn't shut up and stop complaining, he just went for it. It was the most hilarious thing ever. No, we won't have some sweet story to tell our kids, but it was perfect for us. We're not some sappy, romantic couple. We're always joking around and making fun of each other, so why shouldn't his proposal reflect that? It makes me laugh every time I think about it. So, anyways, here's the ring. (You know me, I can't pass up the chance to play around in Photoshop!)

It's actually just a little big, so I'm currently wearing my other ring on top of it, turned around, so it won't slide off. In case you can't tell from the picture, it's white gold, not yellow.

And then here are a couple of things I've made since I last posted. I've actually made way more than this, but most of them still need a little finish work, like embroidering the mouth or cutting out felt for the face. I'm really behind now because I haven't made anything since Robert got here. I'm going to try to catch up today and tomorrow. Two adorable little piggies...

And one sweet turtle.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, I'm taking "Topics in Film Studies/Southwest Studies: The Western" starting Monday.)

(By the way, happy first birthday, Daniel! I hope everyone had a great time at his party!)

Crafty Goodness

In case I haven't told you yet...I adore my sewing machine. I love the idea of sewing and the process of sewing and the results of sewing. I love trying out new patterns and making up my own patterns and experimenting to see what I can make. I made this little apron yesterday. I'm not entirely sure on the sizing, but it's supposed to fit the 3-6 age range. Since I'd never made an apron before, I didn't use my most beautiful fabrics. It ties at the top and back.

This is what the pattern looks like.

It's completely reversible, but the back of this one is very plain.

I also made this pretty thing yesterday.

Doesn't it look nice? And it's lined with a coordinating color.

And this is what it actually is, a cup cozy. It's meant to be used on coffee cups, like from Starbucks or something, so you don't have to use the cardboard sleeves. You can just reuse this instead.

And I'm still popping out the animals. A trip to Hobby Lobby last week set me up on yarn, so I'm just working on making stuff for the craft fair in a couple months.

Aren't these little guys cute?

And who can resist crocheted food? Pumpkin pie with whipped cream...yum!

And lastly, a simple ice cream sandwich.