The High Will Be 3 Below....

3 below zero. That's the 'high' today. That's just not right. And when you factor in the wind chill, it actually feels like 26 below. So then I have to ask myself, 'Why do I live here?????' There is no easy answer!

It is good weather, however, for getting some knitting and spinning done. I am making great progress on the Lucy bag. I have got the bag part done, and am working on the longer strap. I have 75 of the 200 rows completed. I think I am going to enjoy this bag! I got on Ravelry and looked at some of the 240 Lucy bags that others are making and have ideas for future Lucy bags I'd like to knit as well. That is one feature of Ravelry I love - being able to see other knitters' projects.










I loaded up my wheel this morning and headed down to the local spinning guild and spun for about 4 hours. They helped my ply my first yarn. Pretty exciting! I think I am going to make a hat or a scarf out of my first handspun! I hope to have more Saturdays in the near future that I can spend there. Lots of spinning wisdom to glean from!!!





I have dug out my really warm winter coat to wear during this cold snap. I always felt it made me look a little like a big red tomato. Steve has a big green one that he wears, so K has started calling us 'Bob and Larry' from the Vegie tales videos. (Bob is a big red tomato and Larry is a cucumber.) I guess it fits! All I know is that it is the warmest coat I have ever owned! (Even warmer when I attach the fur lined hood!!!) And I like to be warm!











Even Sumo doesn't object to a little extra warmth these days. I don't know, maybe I do need to knit him a sweater!







Off to do some knitting. If you are in the middle of this cold snap, stay warm. If you live where it is warm, enjoy it for me!!!


Until Next Time....

Back to Knitting!

Yes, I do remember that this is suppose to be a knitting blog. Sometimes I do get distracted. Sorry about that! Now that the excitement of the wedding and the cruise are behind me, I do hope to get more knitting (and spinning) in! I know many of you were wondering where all the knitting pictures are from our cruise. Well, truth be told, I did very little knitting while we were gone. A little on the plane and I took it down to the pool one day, but that is it. It is very hard to knit when one is lathered in sunscreen! But here it is. Me 'pretending' to knit on the boat. I didn't even do a stitch!!






I am working on my Monkey socks out of the Shibui Knit yarns. I think these will be for my Loopy Swap Partner.









K has been knitting away on her afghan and is making great progress! Doing it in strips will be perfect for toting around on campus. She is excited to head back to school this weekend. She is especially excited because she just found out that she has been accepted into the School of Journalism at her college. Way to go K!












I've picked out the yarn (Paton's Wool in Paprika) and bought a pattern for another purse that I have wanted to try for some time. The Lucy Bag. Has anyone made it? It really looks like a fun bag to not only make, but to carry. K has already told me she wants one!!






I also have some new roving I want to try with my spinning wheel. Sheri sent me this wonderful roving for Christmas and I can't wait to spin it into yarn. I am hoping to spend part of Saturday down at the local spinning guild with my wheel.














In the meantime, we have been busy helping R & M get settled into their new place. We spent part of Monday watching them open their wedding gifts. Took 3 1/2 hours for them to get through them all!!! What a blessing for them as they start out their married life.














R was very excited to receive a Raclette grill; something that he had experienced while living over in Europe.















They also loved the cross stitch piece that my dad had done for them. And so many other wonderful things, too numerous to mention. A bag FULL of games was another big hit! I told them we'd be up for game night anytime, and they could try out their new Raclette grill on us!!! (Or make some yummy popcorn with their new popcorn popper and seasonings!!!)













Sumo and I watched on as they opened the gifts. (M's parents were there as well. And K was also there taking pictures) Sumo is still wanting to keep a pretty close eye on us and make sure we don't go anywhere without him!!!







After a couple of hours, however, Sumo tired of watching the whole thing and decided to take a nap. Not before K did a whole photo shoot with different bows on his head. Sigh. It's tough being Sumo sometimes.....




Off to cast on my Lucy Bag. I'll keep you posted on my progress!!

Until Next Time....

Back to Reality....

Well, the ship has landed and we have made our way back to the snowy fields of Iowa. It was hard to leave. But we were looking forward to being home. To seeing the newlyweds, and, of course, Sumo.


I thought I would share a few more highlights from our trip. I have to say it was the trip of a lifetime. Everything was amazing. Definitely would go again. This is our ship. The Liberty of the Seas. The largest cruise ship in the world.







We made 3 stops: San Juan; St Maarten and Labadee, Haiti. Us girls did some shopping on San Juan. I am not much of a souvenir shopper, so didn't buy much. But it's always fun to look!








In St. Maarten, we took a shuttle to the French side of the island and did some exploring. It ended with a delicious stop at a little French bakery eating amazing pastries!








Our favorite port, however, was Labadee, Haiti. This is actually a private area owned by Royal Caribbean. Lots of beaches and beautiful blue waters. Steve and A took a Wave Runner tour and said they had GREAT time. They were, however, quite sore for several days afterwards!






We did some snorkeling while we were in Labadee. That was great fun. We found a few sand dollars and sea urchins to bring home with us.








My brother and A did some body surfing. (There were great waves that day!)










The kids found a baby palm tree and enjoyed taking pictures by it.










We also had 3 full days at sea, just enjoying the ship. Sitting by the pool was wondeful. So nice to just soak up the warmth. (And a frozen drink now and then - as you see my brother and sister in law doing!)








Dinner each evening was a highlight for all of us. A time to have all of us together and talk about the day and enjoy amazing food served by some very fun people! I especially enjoyed the formal nights having everyone dressed up and looking so nice!













Rolando and Carlene took GREAT care of us!! Sure hope our paths cross again some day!








A final shot of the 'Tat Brothers' - Steve and my nephew. Yes, those are tattoos. (Ok, so they aren't permanent.. they were fun!!)

















Sumo was very happy to see us and says he is ready to go with us on the next cruise!!!















And now back to reality. We are helping R & M get settled into their first apartment. A has gone back to school and K is here for another week, and then she is back to school as well. Tax season looms before me. Life is busy. Life is good.



Until Next Time....

On The High Seas...

Well, here we are in the middle of the Caribbean! We are on board the largest cruise ship in the world, The Liberty of the Seas. It is an amazing ship!

One of the first things you have to do before the ship sails is don your life jacket and head to your 'muster' station. (Where you would go if it were an actual emergency!) These are some serious lifejackets!!







We are on the trip with my mom and dad and younger brother and his wife and 3 children. Here we are at dinner at our first ‘formal night’. Dinner together each night is one of the highlights for all of us.







There are a ton of things to do on the ship. Steve and K and my brother all have tackled ‘THE WALL’ - A large climbing wall on board the ship. It’s pretty amazing to see. I plan on attempting it today. We’ll see....




















Our stateroom neighbors my brothers room and we both have balconies that open up to each other. It has been wonderful to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the view.











And, of course, it is always fun to come back to our room each evening to see what towel creature awaits us. Well, off to figure out what to do today. We are at sea all day and have lots we want to do on the ship. More next post, which will probably be after we get home.




Until Next Time....

All Eyes Are On Iowa...

Yes, the eyes of the nation were on Iowa tonight as thousands of people went out to caucus. We decided to join them. After waiting over half an hour in a traffic line, I took a side street and parked quite a distance from the caucus site.












Each of the Rebublican candidates had tables set up in the foyer with their information. We bypassed these to try and get in line to register. Did I mention the chaos???? It was unbelievable!







Mike Huckabee was at our caucus and gave a short talk. We were unable to get into the auditorium, so had to watch on TV's that were set up in the main area. So much for thinking I might meet him and get my picture with him!!





It was amazing to see the thousands of people that turned out in Iowa's bitter cold weather to caucus. Over 5000 people showed up at a local middle school. This was WAY more than was anticipated or prepared for. (They had only printed 3700 ballots!!) As crazy and frustrating as it was, I am really glad we went. I'm now tired and ready for some sleep.



I'll blog again from somewhere warm and sunny. Sumo will be staying here with his friend who will be housesitting with him.

Until Next Time....

Wedding - Take 2

Well, with the hundreds and hundreds of photos we have so far (and more to come!) I thought I would do at least one more post with some fun photos from the wedding. Here is M with her bridesmaids around her. Quite the fun group!








Here is M and her little flower girl and ring bearer. These two were just adorable!! The little ring bearer came down the aisle ringing jingle bells, but when he got to the end he reached into the flower girls basket and started throwing her feathers, which I guess he thought was funner than bells!












One of the tables set up in the foyer of the church displayed the wedding photos of us parents and all the grandparents. I thought this was a great idea!









Back to the dance. I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but R & M had a two hour dance lesson with our dance instructor who helped them with their first dance. It was beautiful! I didn't know I raised such a good dancer!!








R & M enjoy the toasts with their Bride and Groom champagne glasses. (Filled with M's favorite sparkling cider!)








Of course, what made the day especially wonderful was the fact that we were surrounded by family and friends. My 4 brothers were there with most of their families which was wonderful. (2 nieces were unable to make it) Here is my oldest brother with his wonderful girlfriend. (My dad is on the right.)






My second oldest brother was there with his beautiful wife.









Next in line is brother B and his fun wife. She was a leader out on the dance floor! She led the line of dancers around the hall during one of the songs. Lots of fun to be sure!!















My youngest brother and his wonderful wife acted as Host and Hostess for the evening and did a wonderful job. Here they are sitting with us at our table. Did I mention how yummy the food was?? (Which is good since we brought home lots of leftovers and are still enjoying it!)







One of the tables filled with nieces and nephews.
How special that they all took time to drive down and spend the day with us!









And, of course, the ones responsible for this crazy bunch.... my mom and dad!











K danced with my dad and was amazed at what a good dancer he was! He was quite a dancer in his day he told her!
















Other 'family' that was there were some of my girlfriends who have been more like sisters to me over the years and we count them as family. Yes, there was a good, more formal one of the three of us, but this one was just too fun! Our friendship goes back to elementary school. In fact, the one in the middle and I met when I was just 4 years old. We were trouble then... and, well, we have fun now!!





Here are the RRR gang kids. The 3 of us from the above photo all married men with last names beginning with R. We've since referred to our families as the Triple R Gang. M sure makes a nice addition to the gang!!









This photo about sums up how Steve and I felt the whole day. Happy and Blessed.


















And Sumo? Well, he missed the wedding. And he missed us. It took a few days for him to be back to himself. (Let's just say he moped a bit!!) Good thing he has such a forgiving heart!!




Well, I may have one more post with a few other highlights. (Waiting for a few more pictures to come in). Now we are busy packing for a family trip. We are going somewhere warm and relaxing, which will be wonderful!!

Until Next Time.....