Pinterest Smoothie

I tried another thing from Pinterest.  I am not sure where I am getting this creative energy.  Maybe it is sucking all my energy.  More likely, these are the simplest things I can thing of doing.  Simple is good (I have succumbed to pregnancy brain and can barely remember my name).

I found this pin:

http://pinterest.com/pin/102386591500470654/

It seemd easy and yummy. 0 Weight Watcher Points, not that I am counting.  The fetus wants food all the time.

I got the blender down from a mysterious cabinet behind the fridge (I had to move a bunch of stuff and stand on a chair!).  Apparently I hide all the miscellaneous small appliances there.  I also found the waffle maker and stick blender. (Pro tip: do not  put every small appliance on your wedding registry for you will get them all.)

In to the blender went the strawberries, bananas, ice and 7 up.  I tried to keep them in about equal portions.  I blended, tasted, and then added more banana.

 (Yes, that is a bread maker on the right...we love small appliances.)

I thought it was pretty tasty.  Something I will consider making again, maybe in summer when strawberries are actually in season around here.

Yum.

What's with the beards?

Have you seen the fake crochet or knit beard trend?  I see it on Facebook, on blogs, and on Pinterest.  I am not really sure what the fascination is.  It might have to do with this Duck Dynasty TV show I've never seen (poor me with only free TV and Netflix, how will I ever survive?!?!).  Or it may just be an sub-set of this strange fake mustache trend.

I just don't understand the fascination with facial hair.  Why do women want to pretend to have mustaches?   But then again, my husband has not been clean-shaved since 2000.  I get my fill of facial hair.

I guess I should be happy people want to wear homemade goods and sport fake beards.  I am just not sure where you would wear them except Halloween or a theme party. Where would you wear one?  A bank robbery? A Dick Dastardly and/or other cartoon villain convention?

Anyway, I jumped on the bandwagon.  I made a beard and hat this weekend.  I am still not feeling the urge to yarn craft like I did a few months ago.  I am still quite sleepy during my waking hours. Yet, it was nice to crochet something up.  I haven't crocheted in a bit, so it was refreshing to pick up the ole hook again.

I was requested to make this set for a toddler in honor of his birthday.  Its a theme birthday party, so this goes along with my previous thoughts of places to wear fake beards.

Maybe he can get into bars with this thing?

What are your thoughts on the fake beard or am I just imagining the trend? What am I missing?

Also, happy birthday to by brother-in-law.

Pinterest Trials

I am so addicted to Pinterest.  Are you?  My problem is that I pin all this cool stuff and do none of it.  Well, this week I did two Pinterest things. Yes two!  I was barely doing two things a week at the beginning of the month.  The second trimester is going so much better than the first.

On to the Pinterest projects.

First,

A crockpot recipe.  With #2 on the way I am stockpiling tons of freezer and crockpot meals.  If you know of any good ones, send them my way.

On Sunday I tried this:

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

(Image from Six Sister's Stuff)

Mine looked nothing like this.

It tasted okay.  I used regular BBQ sauce instead of Hawaiian BBQ sauce.  Maybe that was the problem.  Anyway, I am not a big fan, but I can see why others would love it.  And it was super easy.


Second,

I added baking soda to hard boiling my eggs.  Pinterest claims that it makes them easier to peal.

(image from Buzzfeed)

They were right.  My egg shells have never pealed so easily and on new eggs too.  This trick is definitely a keeper; just 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in the water.

What gems have you found on Pinterest?  Anything I should give a try?

Block Party

I knit over the weekend!!!!  I knit for a good stretch. It was amazing.  I visited my local yarn store twice and loved every second.  Previously the thought of yarn and knitting made me even more queasy, but my sick days seem to be behind me now and many knitting days before me.

I joined a block-of-the-month knit-a-long at my local yarn store.  We are knitting one block a month to improve knitting technique and at the end the block will be joined together to make a lap blanket..  We are using Building Blocks by Michelle Hunter.  I am making the blocks out of HiKoo by Skacel Collection, Simpliworsted in a nice milk chocolate color.  I like neutral colors in my home decor. I'm pretty boring.

I cast on the first block at the store, came home for lunch and then knit during the afternoon football game (Broncos and Ravens).  My husband was amazed I was making something for us to use.  He said I haven't made anything for the family in a while, I think I have.  I made D a football hat in the fall, she just doesn't wear it.  Plus I haven't really knit in 2 months! (2 months! Really? Oh my, it has been a long time.)

I finished the block during the game.  I am totally done with the project for January.  I can't believe I am ahead of the game.  I can never get ahead, but here I am ahead.  I could even start of February's block if I wanted....

It felt so good to knit again.  I need to start making my plan for what to knit in 2013.  Any suggestions?

Seraphina

I am in book club over load.  Starting this month I am now in three book clubs.  I'm not sure how I am going to read books for three books clubs and the books I want to read!  Luckily I pick the books for one of the clubs so I do get to pick what I want and I do have input on the other clubs.

For the school book club I lead I just finished reading Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.

(image from Goodreads)

I love fantasy, but I usually read low fantasy, meaning it takes place in everyday life, like Harry Potter.  This is the first high fantasy (happening in a fantasy land as in Lord of the Rings), I have read in many, many years.

Seraphina lives in the kingdom of Goredd.  At 16, she is an amazing musician and is hired as the assistant musician for the court.  She even becomes the music teacher to the princess. However, Seraphina, has a secret and so she tends to be prickly and never let her guard down causing her to be lonely and friendless. Oh and there are dragons living among the people of Goredd. These dragons are special and can fold up into human shape. For 40 years there has been a treaty of peace between the dragons and humans, but trouble is brewing and Seraphina gets caught in the middle.

This book was suggested by a student for us to read this semester and I think the book club will really like it.    It took me awhile to like Seraphina, she keeps her secret from the reader for a bit and is quite prickly (she is described as prickly often in the book).  After about 80 pages, I really started to get into the story (it is 451 pages).  I think that is about the time she meets her love interest.  I love a good love interest.

Book #2 comes out in July. Yes, it is another trilogy.

I think my next book will be Beautiful Creatures (also a trilogy, you can't escape them!!!!), so I can read it before the movie comes out.  I have been wanting to read it for years so the movie is just super motivating me.

What are you reading next?

Returning

I'm back to being myself.  At least I hope/think I am.  I haven't felt nauseous in days and my cold is slowly dissipating.  I'm not too sleepy either.  Everything seems to be coming back to normal, which is about time.  I have been feeling "not-my-self" since before Thanksgiving.  It is good to have some energy back.  I am even going to the gym tonight!

How did I spend this new energy?  I super cleaned the kitchen.  I follow this wonderful blog called Decor and the Dog, written by a fabulous lady (also named Michelle).  She is married to one of the sons of a very good family friend.  I spend a lot of time with her brother in-law growing up.  A lot of time (school, church and soccer...every day I saw him).  This Michelle has an eye for decorating, very much unlike me, so I like to read what she has to say about her home (which is across the street from the town I grew up in) and of course her dog and the other wonderful things in her life.

Anyway, yesterday she posted tips on cleaning her kitchen and I thought, we Michelles need to stick together and somehow that inspired me to clean.  We also had a pretty big mess going in the kitchen and something sticky in the pantry.  That has all been corralled and I am quite pleased.

Now my kitchen is clean, but not very organized.  Still, I will take clean for now.  I can tackle inside the fridge and cabinets later.

Tonight I tackle the dinning room and maybe parts of the living room.  Beware dust bunnies of 713, I'm coming for you!

And for a reward, I will start knitting again.  It has been too long.

I started on this on Thanksgiving break and haven't touch it since.

Tonight I change that.

What are your plans?

Announcing...

The arrival of my second child in late July.

It is doing a headstand!

That means my little fetus is about 11 1/2 weeks old today. (Yes, I call it a fetus and not a baby.  It is not a baby until it is out or at least viable. You can call it a baby, though, if that is what you prefer.)

So far, this has been a less than desirable pregnancy.  Very much unlike my first.  I am very nauseous all day which is actually causing me to eat all day and gain weight.  The nauseous feeling went away over Christmas just in time for me to get a cold.  Now I still have the cold and the nausea is back.  I am sure things will turn around when I finish out this first trimester later this month. Right?

I haven't been blogging much because I haven't been doing much.  I go to work and I come home and lay in the recliner. On the days I had off over break, I just laid in the recliner (I love Netflix.  Best thing ever!)  The thought of knitting was making me ill, so since Thanksgiving I have only made one small beret.  I haven't been running because I have been so sleepy. There has been nothing to report.  Nothing you want to hear anyway.  I have been a bit of a crabby pants lately.  Constant nausea and tiredness will do that to you I guess.  I am definitely not as excited as other people, my sister cried and my mom's friend nearly died of shock, according to her daughter.  I think my outward excitement will happen when I feel better.

My family had a good Christmas and New Year.  We enjoyed telling our daughter she is going to be a big sister so she could tell her grandparents.  D is very excited.  She keeps feeling my belly and asking if it is any bigger. She thinks we should name it "Chuck E. Cheese" because she doesn't know any babies with that name.  She is right.  Her logic never fails.

So my new year's resolution is to have a happy and healthy pregnancy and then baby.  Oh and to knit and crochet a few baby things.

So what is your resolution?