Year in Review - Places I've been, Places to Go

So I'm revisiting my list of Places to Go that I posted when I turned 30.

In 2011, Chris and I made it to Chicago, and even a short trip to NYC.

For 2012 I pretty much don't plan on traveling much at all; first I'll be pregnant and not wanting to travel, then I'll have a newborn and won't want to travel. So ,my plan is for 2012 to be the Year Of Staying Put.

Here's my revised list of Places to visit before I'm 40. it looks like I have about 8 more years to get to 7 places... make that 7 years if we don't travel in 2012. Doable, but a little intimidating.

Places I hope to visit before I'm 40:

• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver, CA
• Boston, MA
• Rome, Italy
• Yellowstone
• Chicago, IL complete!
• Austin, TX
• Denver, CO

Turning 32 - Goals for my 30s Revisited

Okay, I'm a little behind on doing much of anything lately... I'm 10 weeks pregnant (yay!) and feeling pretty sick (boo!) so my productivity level has DROPPED as of late. I'm really hoping that turns around in January, but we'll see how that goes.

So I'm a few days late in thinking about Goals for my 32nd year (my birthday was 3 days ago), but I figure this is close enough. I looked back on my Goals for my 30s that I posted a couple years ago, and it's interesting what can change in a couple years' time.

1. Have baby #2. Looks like I'm on the right track with this one! Baby #2 is due this July.
2. Buy a house. This has actually moved up as a goal for THIS year, if we can find the right now. Actually, a goal for the first half of the year. If not now, we'll try again in a couple more years. So yes, this has moved up. We really want a yard. And a little more space for our growing family. And a place to call our own for good.
3. Figure out if I want to go to grad school, and if I do, get started with it. Still not sure about this one. I'm thinking it's at least 5 years away to even consider it.
4. Become a Stay-At-Home Mom. Okay, sure. I still would like for this to happen. But it's not really on my radar. My goals for the next 5 years revolve more around growing in my career than leaving it.
5. Learn to do wet felting. Sure that would be fun but right now I don't really care if I do it.
6. Learn to knit. I'm pretty content as a crocheter. I don't think it matters if I don't pick up knitting.
7. Learn to sew. Something else that I don't care about AT ALL right now. But who knows, maybe I'll care again before I'm 40.
8. Complete a fine art project. Even if I were to do one, what would I do with it? I don't really "self identify" as a fine artist, so I don't know that I'm too concerned about that.
9. Find a place where I can get into wheel-throwing pottery again. Okay, I still want to do this. But I think it might be a goal for my 60s, not my 30s. Fun Things To Do When I'm Old and Retired.
10. Produce another film.Nope. Don't care.

So now I'm down to 4 goals for the next 8 years, and I'm only passionate about the first two. Wow. I feel... pretty melancholy. I'm sure this will all change again in a few months. After all, I'm experiencing first trimester nausea and exhaustion as a consistent way of being right now. At any rate, I think the next two plus years of my life will be about supporting our growing family (financially, emotionally, physically), and maintaining my sanity in the midst of it. I wonder what it will look like next December?

Pen Holder Bookmark - Free Crochet Pattern

I have been pretty obsessed with pinterest lately as a source of ideas for crafty fun times. After seeing a photo of a knitted pen tube bookmark on pinterest, I decided I had to have one. But I don't knit, so I just winged it and came up with a pretty simple pattern for a crochet version for my notebook.

Download the printer-friendly PDF version.

Materials:

sock-weight yarn
Hook Size: D -3.25mm
button
Yarn Sewing Needle

Stitches:

ch = chain stitch
hdc = half double crochet
hdc dec = half double crochet decrease (one hdc across two stitches)
FLO = front loop only
sc = single crochet
sl st = slip stitch
st = stitch

Pattern:

ch 5
R1: sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc in each additional chain (4 sc)
R2: ch 1, 4 sc (4 sc)
R3-6: Repeat R2
Rnd 7: ch 1, 4 hdc FLO, turn and in the SAME stitches, 3 hdc FLO, 1 hdc inc FLO in last sc. join first hdc with last hdc using a sl st. (9 hdc)
Rnd 8 : ch 1, turn, 9 hdc around, sl st to join. (9 hdc)
Rnd 9-21: Repeat rnd 8
Rnd 22: 2 sl st, 2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 sc, sl st
Rnd 23: ch 1, turn, skip sl st, 1 sl st, 1 sc, 2 hdc, 1 sc, 1 sl st
Rnd 24: ch 1, turn, skip sl st, 1 sl st, 1 sc, hdc, 1 sl st
Rnd 25: ch 1, turn, skip sl st, 2 sc
Rnd 26: ch 1, turn, 1 hdc dec
ch 40 to create bookmark strip. FO and leave a long tail.

Finishing Touches:

Sew the button to the middle of the area made by the first 6 rows. If you will be using this bookmark with one specific notebook, put the body of the bookmark on the spine, wrap the tail into the book, wind the end around the button and pull tight. Use that “measurement” to tie a loop that can hook onto the button.
If this bookmark will be “multiuse” between books, you can just pull the tail tight and wind it back through the book to keep it secure.

Notes:

The person who wrote the original design sells the knitting pattern on ravelry and on her own site, as well. This crochet pattern is released as Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. You may not sell this pattern. You may sell bookmarks made using this pattern.

Jesse Tree Advent Calendar project

Having a young child has really made me want to start establishing some Christmas traditions that keep us focused on the "reason for the season," if you will. Last year I learned about the Jesse Tree advent calendar from my church's Children's Pastor, and I really liked the idea on a number of levels. It seems like a simple way to introduce children to the Bible stories that lead up to Christmas, with just a short reading each day, and I love that it's reinforced with an image for each day. So this year, since my fall calendar is already pretty full, I decided to get a head start on Christmas by making my own Jesse Tree Advent Calendar that will last us for many Advent seasons.

I used this book, The Advent Jesse Tree to get the idea for the symbol for each day, as well as the Bible verses to read to children for each day leading up to Christmas. Our church uses the same book on Sundays during advent, so I wanted to stickHide all with the same thing to keep it familiar (Google searches taught me that there are a number of lists of verses and symbols to choose from). And after many Etsy and Pinterest searches, and some crafting advice from friends, I finally settled on what I wanted to do for our family. I wanted something I could make myself, that would be lasting and could help build tradition for the years to come.

There are a few components to the final result.

1. Advent Calendar - made out of stiff cardboard and purchased at Hobby Lobby; the drawers are 2" cubes. I used Modge Podge to glue 2" squares of scrapbooking paper to each drawer, and after searching high and low at the craft store for some number stickers I could use, gave up and made the number labels myself.

2. Ornaments - I made each ornament out of Paper Clay, which is pretty nice air-dry white clay. It was my first time using it, and was actually pretty easy to work with. For more of the symbols I just made round ornaments that I could paint symbols on, but I had appropriate cookie cutters for a couple of them, and a few more I decided to hand sculpt just to add some variety to the ornaments. Once they had hardened, I used water color pencils to add the symbols to each one. Then I wrote the day and symbol name on the back of each one just so it will be easy to return them to their appropriate boxes at the end of the season.

3. Verses - I typed out short verse cards to accompany each ornament in their respective boxes. Every day had a short memory verse and a longer Bible passage to read. These verse cards contain the name of the symbol, the full text of the memory verse, and the name of the other passage to be read. Verses are rolled up and tied with a bit of string.

4. Tree - so this part isn't done yet, because I haven't decided the best way to go about it. But I need a small tree that we can hang one ornament on every day. My requirement is that it be something simple and affordable (if I need to buy anything at all), and it can't take up too much space in my closet during the year. This isn't to take the place of a traditional Christmas tree, it's in addition to it. (Not that we're very traditional when it comes to the tree anyways).

5. Oh yeah... I'm also planning on one extra piece to this whole thing, but it's hard to explain so I'll just post about it when I'm done.

Ok, so I showed you mine. Now it's your turn!

What's your favorite Christmas tradition? Do you have any projects planned to make your holiday season special?

Crochet / Felted Purse Patterns

I've been working on these for a while, and finally finished the patterns for my two favorite purses. Both are crocheted with a 4.5mm hook with 100% wool yarn, and felted in a washing machine. Both are designed to hold a notebook in the back pocket, a cell phone, and a chapstick for easy access. Either one would be a great project. And both are available to purchase for $4.95 on Etsy and on Ravelry.

Joanie Purse
Buy on Ravelry

Mobile / Content Purse
Buy on Ravelry

Easy protein-packed "pancakes"

My nearly-two-year-old son is a bit of a picky eater. Aren't they all at this age? I can pretty much get him to eat any sort of carb-filled food -- breads, rice, quinoa, Morning O's (wheat-free cheerios), rice chex, bananas, fruits -- anything sweet or full of carbs that turn into sugar. But vegetables are always elusive, and protein, as well. Sure, he'll eat lentils and beans and such (sometimes) so that helps, and I make him a green smoothie every morning that he just LOVES, which makes me feel better about him getting some veggies in his diet. But nuts are kind of a choking hazard at this age, and he just doesn't like meat, and he liked eggs for about two days before he decided he hated eggs. So what's a mom to do?

I had decided to stop feeding him carbs for breakfast. No more oatmeal and rice cereal, because he's eating too many carbs and if I start the day off with them, then he's just going to be in a carb-frenzy for the rest of the day. Veggies are a hard sell any time of day, so I certainly didn't plan to fill his breakfast plate with veggies. Eggs seemed like the perfect option, but we've already covered his anti-eggs stance.

Time to get creative.

Egg "pancake"

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp coconut oil (or oil of choice)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp almond meal 
• 1/2 tbsp flax meal
• 1 tbsp pureed veggie or squash of choice (if available)
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup (or honey, etc)

Directions:

1. Whisk together egg, almond meal, flax meal, syrup, and veggie puree (I've used minced zucchini, butternut squash, and green beans from a baby food jar. This one isn't essential but is a way to sneak other goodies into it, and the butternut squash is by far the favorite). 
2. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
3. When oil is hot, pour mixture into skillet. Is should spread out pretty thin. Let the pancake cook until you can easily flip it over in one piece.
4. When both sides are cooked, put it on a plate to cool. 

Makes one pancake. One pancake is approx 190 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, and only 7 grams of carbs (2 grams sugars).  

I call them pancakes for my son as sort of a marketing technique. But they're more like crepes, which means you can smear them with almond butter or fruit filling or something and roll them up if you want to get fancy.

Sometimes Zeke likes them plain, but when he gets bored with it I will put almond butter on it, or a dab of honey, or some almond butter and dried cranberries... you get the idea. These (below) are made with butternut squash, and have a light layer of honey on the inside before they're rolled up, per the Little Man's request.