Catch the Moment 365: Week 3

January 15: This year I'm participating in The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Story Time Sampler. Here are all my supplies, but I decided to use 16 count Aida, instead of 2 count linen.

January 16: One of my daughter's favorite things is to take a silly picture with mama.

January 17: On Saturday, my daughter and I made fish with seasoning and lime juice. It was delicious. My daughter was a little {or big} helper and juiced the limes.

January 18: We had a lovely day with friends from church. In the evening, I started knitting the repeat in the dress pattern. I feel like I am slow as molasses while knitting this dress, though I think a large part of the reason is that I'm knitting with 100% acrylic.

January 19: Made more progress on the dress. I'm motivated because my daughter wants her "Elsa" dress ASAP.

January 20: We went to prayer meeting. On the way home, we stopped to get a few groceries, mainly apples because my daughter has been eating apples non stop this week. Take one guess at who the drama queen is.

January 21: Justin has slowly started eating more food. Charis LOVES feeding her little brother. She lovingly says, "Here you go funny boy!" Then when he takes a bite, "Good job!!"

Linking up at Capture the Moment 365

at Behind the Camera & Dreaming, My Life, Our Journey, and

Stavish Stills Photography.

Barley Hat

On December 24, I had just cast on the barley hat for my brother in law, my sister's husband. But on Christmas day, we found out that my sister's family would not be coming because her daughter was sick. The barley hat went on the back burner. I finally picked it up again in January. I am such a bad sister and don't have their address, so I have yet to mail it to my brother in law. I finally tried it on and must admit I'd like to keep it for myself. Excuse my son's airplane in some of the pictures. He had an enjoyable time playing with it while I was taking pictures.

Catch the Moment 365: Week 2

January 8: My birthday! I turned 31 and don't always believe I'm now that old. Princess Elsa gave me a manicure.

January 9: Cast on the dress that I'm test knitting.

January 10: A student of Drew's drew a picture of our family and made cut outs of us.

January 11: Slowly making progress on the dress. I did not notice this before, but according to Charis, "The dress is an Elsa dress! It's the same color as Elsa's!"

January 12: Justin kept leaning over in the cart at Target. Thank God for buckles, otherwise he may have hurt himself.

January 13: Pajamas all day, of course!

January 14: Charis is learning her dates. I bought a calendar, and everyday we add a sticker after reciting the date.

Linking up at Capture the Moment 365

at Behind the Camera & Dreaming, My Life, Our Journey, and

Stavish Stills Photography.

Catch the Moment 365: Week 1

Last year, I started the year out by attempting a 365 photo project, but around February stopped posting the photos. This year, I hope to again post photos of our daily life. There are just taken with my iPod and will not be edited, other than having the date somewhere on the photo.

January 1: Charis, Justin, and I arrived back in Maryland around 5 PM. We were separated from Drew {Daddy} for about 2 weeks. Drew took us out to eat at Famous Dave's.

January 2: I'm participating in Apartment Therapy's January Cure. Assignment #1 was "Flowers & Floors", but in order to actually clean the floor, things need to be picked up. This is our entry way, and it's the first place to put clutter on when entering our apartment. Thankfully, the entry way is MUCH cleaner and clearer.

January 3: A picture of Charis's "bed". Since we live in a one bedroom apartment, it's a mattress on the floor in our bedroom. The Elsa blanket was a Christmas gift from Uncle L.

January 4: My mum received this homemade body butter as a gift from a student. I started using it in PA at Christmas, and she let me keep it. It's VERY moisturizing.

January 5: Justin has been less than impressed with baby food. He is supposed to be eating pears, but would rather have breastmilk. At my son's last well child visit, his pediatrician said, "If you give a breastfed baby a choice between the boob or baby food, they'll choose the boob." If you don't believe that he actually said that, my MIL is a witness.

January 6: Charis sometimes loves the camera, and at other times hides from the camera. Here she's hiding.

January 7: My little explorer is trying to pull himself up.

Linking up at Capture the Moment 365

at Behind the Camera & Dreaming, My Life, Our Journey, and

Stavish Stills Photography.

Five on Friday: 2015 Knitting Goals

Last year, I had 14 projects on my knitting list that I wanted to finish, and only finished about half of them. But this year, I only have five knitting goals. Though, one of the goals will involve at least three different items to be knit, and possibly more. Two of the goals are "selfish" items; after all, I wants knits for myself.

1. I would like to "Knit something in bright red for every new baby" on my list. Currently, there are three people on this list. I did not come up with this goal myself; it was borrowed from The Knitter's Life List.  Thankfully, babies are small and items given to them can be knit quickly.

2. Finish the dress that I'm test knitting. This needs to be completed by the end of January.

3. Start knitting Christmas gifts in July.

4. Knit an adult size sweater, most likely a cardigan. I know, I've been saying this for the last two years, and it has yet to happen. My biggest fear is that I'll spend a lot of time knitting myself a sweater, but in the end it will not fit very well.

5. Knit myself a pair of socks.

What are your knitting, crocheting, or crafting goals this year?

This post contains affiliate links.

Hero DVD Review & Giveaway

This is a sponsored post. 

Recently Family Christian sent me the DVD Hero to review.

Synopsis: Hero is about Joe Finn, who left his family for seven years, to take a job in pursuit of his dream career. He returns to find that his wife has terminal cancer and is dying. She forgives him, but tells her husband that their son needs his dad around and that their son is not ready to forgive him.

Joe's son, David, has been coaching a little league team. David allows his father to assist in coaching his team. At one of the first practices Joe attends, he sees that baseball has changed; it is not as competitive as when he coached, plus the dads are not at the practices and games. David and Joe break their team from the little league team and form their own league. Joe encourages the dads to be involved in their son's life and has each dad sign a pledge.

Today's My Birthday & 31 Random Facts about Me

31 years ago, I was born around 3 PM in the afternoon, but as my husband tells me, I am "24 for eighth year in a row." When we were dating, I turned 25 and was not wanting to turn 25. I bemoaned, "People are old when they are 25." Now, I laugh at that statement. If 25 is old, what will I say I am at 40 or 50?

Today, I figured I'd blog about 31 random facts about me; they're in no particular order. Hope you enjoy getting to "know" me better.

1. I was born in Michigan, but do not remember living there.

2. My family moved to another state when I was 19 months old.

3. I officially met my husband in 1994.

4. But, it took 14 years for me to like him as more than just a friend.

5. One of my favorite author's is John Grisham.

6. I went on a short term mission trip to Uganda in 2006 for 6 weeks.

7. The best chai tea I had was in Uganda.

8. Which might explain why I do not like American chai tea.

9. I went to Grove City College (GCC) for 2 years.

10. I left GCC because they do not have a nursing program.

11. I'm currently listening to The Last Juror by John Grisham.

12. I have also lived in Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

13. I went to a public school in Iowa.

14. In Pennsylvania, I attended a Christian school.

15. We plan on homeschooling our daughter next year.

16. I have been to Northern Ireland 10 times.

17. We planned to go to Prince Edward Island for our "honeymoon" on our first anniversary.

18. But had a daughter born 362 days after we were married.

19. I played basketball in junior high and high school.

20. I am about 5 ft. 9 in.

21. I love flowers, especially freshly cut.

22. Knitting if one of my favorite things to do.

23. I may be crazy, but I signed up for The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Story Time Sampler {their 2015 mystery stitch-a-long}.

24. I can not donate blood-ever. This is due to being a person who has spent a long period in a country where "mad cow disease" is. 

25. My favorite shows are Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey, NCIS, and Castle.

26. Since 1995, I knew I wanted to name my first daughter "Charis".

27. My two favorite movies are Anne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice {the BBC version}.

28. My three favorite colors are pink, blue, and purple.

29. I was taught how to knit by my granny and my mum.

30. Cleaning is one of my least favorite things.

31. I am living my "dream job" now-being a mum.

Sundance Lacy Hat

Leading up to Christmas, I planned to knit my sister in law a mini shawl and even printed out 3 different patterns from Ravelry. But two weeks before Christmas, I went to my local public library and borrowed Classic Elite Quick Knits: 100 Fabulous Patterns for Wraps, Socks, Hats, and More. I changed my mind and decided to knit Jen the "Lacy Hat" pattern in the book.

On Ravelry, the frustrating thing with this book is that it only has 47 patterns listed under it, when it really should have 100. As I looked through other Classic Elite patterns on Ravelry, it looks like many of the patterns in this book came from a previous Classic Elite leaflet or booklet. I had to do some searching to find the actual project page for the pattern and its designer. In the book is pattern is listed as "Lacy hat", but on Ravelry, it's listed as "Sundance lacy hat."

2014 Review

There were many ups and downs last year. There wasn't a whole lot of difference between 2013 and 2014-other than having a new person in the family. The struggles were the same, though in some cases the cause was different.

Drew: We had hoped that he would have a PhD in hand by May 2014, but God had other plans. Drew is still working on his dissertation, along with tutoring SAT/ACT at a local center. Late 2013, there was a political science position open at his Alma mater, and we were hopeful that he'd at least be interviewed there. In February, we learned he was not even on the short list. At first that came as a blow to us and our family, but I'm actually glad he did not get the teaching position. Had he gotten the job, he would be prepping for all his classes, researching, writing, and defending his dissertation; we would have very little interaction with each other. As it is now, we still live paycheck to paycheck, but God continues to be faithful and provide for us.

Myself: At times, this year has been rather emotional for me. I am often reminded of James 4:1-17:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

I constantly looked for teaching jobs for Drew throughout the year and have been so discouraged when he does not hear back from colleges/universities. I arrogantly assumed that he would have a full time teaching job. There are also times where I have planned something, but God shuts the door. The biggest case is how we had planned on moving to a different apartment, with a different landlord, but three weeks before we were supposed to move, God stopped it from happening. Looking back, I see how good God was in letting us continue to stay where we are. Yes, we still want to move and frequently look for places, but we only want to sign a month to month lease and most landlords want us to sign a year long lease. So until we have a little more certainty about what's going on, we will most likely continue to live in our current apartment. This year I was once again reminded that I don't have it altogether and need to constantly look to Christ, be in the Word, fellowship with other believers, and pray.

Charis: Upgraded to "Big Sister" status and LOVING it. She had a bout of the flu in December, but is back to her active self. At her doctor's appointment, she her height was 47 inches and weight was 47 lbs. She loves dancing, spinning, Spanish, and learning to write her letters.

Justin: "Overdue" just like his big sister. But unlike my pregnancy with Charis, I actually was not giving him an "eviction notice" every hour after my "due" date. I actually enjoyed my pregnancy with Justin. I think it helped that I was not working full time and that I already have one child at home.

Five on Friday: Christmas Gifts

Every year, I love looking forward to Christmas: spending time with family, giving gifts, and receiving gifts. Yes, I'm selfish and would be lying if I denied it. This year, my five favorite Christmas gifts were:

A Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

A belated Merry Christmas! I was away for almost two weeks in PA visiting family and friends. This Christmas was very relaxing. Yes, I knit gifts for people, but not everyone. Unlike previous years, I did not apologize to those who did not receive hand knit gifts from me. I've come to realize that time is valuable, and if I'm to enjoy this time of year, then I should not stress out about finishing my knitting. That being said, I am still knitting gifts, but I'd been much more laid back.

Gifts wrapped and ready to go to PA.