The Timothy and Melanie Hewitt Experience

Living an Enriching Life: January Overview

2012-01-31T08:24:00.000-05:00

Book Read: Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman

This was a large and very informative book, though if you are interested in the nitty gritty of Joseph Smith's life, I would definitely recommend it. If your testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Lattery-Day Saints is hinged on Joseph Smith being a prophet without fault then I would suggest you refrain from reading it. It shows how Joseph Smith was completely human, with all of his faults. I found this to be comforting rather than hindering to the validity of his role as Prophet and President of the Church. It exhibits the belief that God's chosen come from all walks of life, both lowly and supreme.

There is a lot of information in the book that I found to be somewhat unnecessary and I couldn't quite see it's importance in the telling of Joseph Smith's life. I also wondered about the author's interpretation of Joseph Smith's personality, but understand that you can only do so much when all you have to go on are diaries from third parties.

Overall I found the book to be very insightful and I'm glad that I had this glimpse into the life of the first Prophet and President of my church.

Charity Knits/Crochets: I've only just recently finished two projects (a cardigan and pair of socks) for us and I'm starting my "gift" today as soon as I get the right needles.

Letters Written: One...and I havent' even mailed it off yet...

Write Daily in Journal: I have been writing every day!!! This Five Year Journal has really changed my outlook on journal keeping! I find I enjoy picking out THE most important event from the day and jotting it down for posterity.

Baby Hewitt Trousseau: Nothing yet, maybe after my charity knit...I'm getting lots of left overs from other projects. I'm thinking maybe another onesie or maybe a plush toy...

Cultural Event: A little too poor right now...

Personal Progress: Haven't even started!

Great List of Things To Learn: Still need to collect a soap mold, fats, oils, lye and essential oils to even get started on making soap!

Book of Mormon: Haven't started either...

I think for starting off I'm doing pretty good. It's been hard finding time to do everything I want now that I'm working full time. We'll see how next month goes!!

New Year's Resolution: Live a More Enriching Life

2012-01-20T10:44:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now 27 years old. I've been looking forward to this year. Ever since about summer last year, I always had the feeling that 27 was going to be my year. I celebrated my birthday with the only man I love and woke up this morning dry heaving into the toilet. My husband made the call and kept my home from work. So now I get to share with you how I've resolved to make this year, year 27, my year:

LIVE A MORE ENRICHING LIFE

It seems simple to me. I'm not very good with "resolutions", things like lose weight or whatever, it's too specific. But something like "live a more enriching life" is broader and doesn't leave the focus on me, where I complete things that enrich my life, but also pose an enrichment on others. And so I've comprised a list of things that I've decided I MUST do in order to live a more enriching life.

1. Read 1 new book per month (four of which must be in German)

2. For every two knitted/crocheted items for the family, I make one for charity or give away as a gift (the point is it's not for me or The Hubs)

3. Add at least 5 new items to Baby Hewitt Trousseau

4. Attend one of each: play, symphony, opera, ballet

5. Write one letter per week (this is to include my Young Women)

6. Complete the new Young Women Personal Progress regime

7. Check off two things from The Great List of Things to Learn (dying wool does not count as I actually did it Dec. 31)

8. Read the Book of Mormon

9. Write in my 5 Year Journal daily (I'm horrible at writing in a journal, but I found this wonderful journal that spans five years and has only a small space to write things so the only things that get put into history are the important stuff)

This is just the basics. I hope to flesh out the list with little things here and there. I'm excited to do this throughout the year.

On a little side note, I spun up the wool from my first dying session. It's been a few weeks and I've already sent it off to my Oma, but here are some pictures so you can see how it turned out. The Hubs named the colorway "Avocado Dreams", I think it suits the yarn perfectly. It yielded only about 331 yards, probably not enough to make mid-calf socks, but hopefully she'll be able to do something with it.

Irony (Updated)

2012-01-13T09:13:00.000-05:00

I feel ill. Not because of any real physical malady, but because of a culmination of things transpired. All of which, I feel, have a certain level of irony.

First:

I went to a midwife last year in November for my womanly check up and because I had gone a substantial amount of time without menses after a six month run of on the clock regularity. I talked with her about my frustrations and anxieties, all that had been happening. I told her about my cycles. She told me she believed that according to my descriptions of my cycles I had ovulated every month for those six months. Needles to say it's become obvious that I'm not ovulating anymore...again. Hence, the irony.

Secondly:

The Hubs has been having emotional difficulty with a new job that he got. Yesterday during the day I sent him a comforting text message that read "This year is our year" because I honestly felt that it would be. Two minutes later he sent me a text message saying to ask my boss for more hours because he got fired.

The Last Baby of 2011

2012-01-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

This one is kind of cheesy, I know. But I love it because it reminds me
of Glamour Shots.

The Great List of Things To Learn: Dyeing Wool with Acid Dyes

2012-01-02T11:02:00.001-05:00

Cheers

2011-12-29T11:23:00.000-05:00

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
And they're always glad you came.
You want to be where you can see our troubles are all the same.
You want to be where everybody knows your name.
You want to go where people know people are all the same.
You want to go where everybody knows your name.

I wish I had a place like Cheers to go to...

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T13:36:00.001-05:00

My Hairstyle

2011-11-11T06:17:00.001-05:00

I sat in front of the computer for a while deciding whether or not I was going to write this post. Not totally convinced I then went to blow dry my hair. Standing in front of the mirror watching my hand holding my round brush move through my newly highlighted and cut hair as the hot air from my dryer blew across I knew I had to write this post. My hairstyle for the day is formed by the heat and brush strokes I apply to it, it's existence and shape are governed by what I enforce upon it. In the same way I shape my hair with heat (my trials) and brush strokes (my reaction to the trials), I was shaped today.

On Wednesday I did something that I haven't done in three years. I bought a pregnancy test. And it was the hardest and most nerve-wracking thing I've done to date. The purchase of a pregnancy test for a woman, really anyone, facing infertility is a big step: it represents all the hope and faith one has that this time it's real. Every shred of the thought "maybe I am pregnant" and "I really hope I'm pregnant" and "I've got to be pregnant" and "please don't let me be kidding myself", the fear that you are kidding yourself, the doubts you have because of how many times you've been burned, and every memory of months gone by where you knew early on that you didn't need this digital calculator you pee on are stuffed together in the blink of an eye it takes to swipe your debit card. Needless to say, for an infertile, buying a pregnancy test is a big deal. I cried the entire drive home.

I've been re-listening to this past General Conference at work. Saturday morning session is still my favorite. I fought with myself trying not to cry during Uchtdorf's and Elder Neil Anderson's talks. I'm finding my faith and hope again. And after this morning I'm still going to hold on to it. This morning was a shaping moment, and I'm going to let it shape me for the better.

I'm not going to say directly what the result of my pregnancy test was, though the fact that I'm writing about this now and the fact that I'm writing it here with your knowledge of how I feel about announcing such matters on any form of social networking should give you a clear indication. I took a big step on Wednesday. I took an even bigger step this morning. I took my hope and faith in my hands, laid it all out on the table, let myself be vulnerable, and in the end I was able to take it all back. And I can say that six months ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to do that.

Words of Wisdom

2011-11-06T11:39:00.001-05:00

I haven't written anything in a really long time so I thought I would share a little word of wisdom from Elder J. Devn Cornish:

"...the things that are important to us become important to Him,

just because He loves us."

Trousseau

2011-10-18T20:31:00.000-04:00

During the summer I started to have a voracious hankering to knit baby items. And this was rather interesting, and in a way suprising, because it seems that all I have been doing all year is knit baby items. For other people.

My hankering was to knit baby items...for myself.

I fought with myself over this, however. I could not justify knitting baby things for myself, or rather my baby. Because my baby did not, does not exist. And there was no certainty that my baby would ever exist. So why should I bother knitting things for her now to never have a chance to use them, to have them sit around unused? Why would I want to have little reminders of how he's not here, how he doesn't exist?

Eventually the hankering became too much. I found myself perusing patterns on Ravelry. And then I couldn't take it anymore.

So I made these.

These onesies, though still lacking snaps and buttons to close the crotch and yoke, will join a crocheted granny square blanket I made years ago for a Young Women's project and my Hexagon Baby Blanket that I can't part with anymore.

More than anything, now, these onesies and two blankets will not stand as a reminder of the pain of infertility, but rather the hope that our miracle will happen. And if it does, as I slowly continue to add to my baby's trousseau, I will be the most prepared expectant mother and my baby will know that I wanted her so much.

Words of Wisdom

2011-10-07T12:22:00.001-04:00

"The salvation of man is through love and in love.

I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may now bliss,

be it only for a brief moment,

in the contemplation of his beloved.

In a position of utter desolation,

when man cannot express himself in postive action,

when his only acheivement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way

-an honorable way-

in such a position man can,

through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved,

achieve fulfillment."

Viktor E. Frankl
"Man's Search for Meaning"

That Which is Now Will Not Always Be

2011-10-04T06:53:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm losing my support system. Those we have come to consider our best friends out here in Pittsburgh, are moving on to bigger and better things. They understand our struggle with infertility and have been the most understanding and compassionate whenever we've needed someone to talk to. They let us live with them when we had no place to go for ten days. And now they will be leaving us.

In some ways I, at least, have gotten used to being the couple who gets left behind. A lot of our friends are going on to having their second child. A lot of them are going on to jobs elsewhere in the country. It's starting to hurt less and less watching everyone else get the opportunities we've been struggling for for the past...geez...four years? It's become common place and expected.

I am happy that our compassionate friends have found this job outside of Pittsburgh. If anyone deserves it, it's them. Though, it'll be sad to see them go.

But they give me hope. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, during this month's conference, said what the Hubs and I have decided to make our driving force and I'm paraphrasing here: that which is now will not always be. Our friends suffered through our same pains. And look at where they are now.

It will hurt to lose my dear friend who sat with me in the car while I bawled my eyes out after the last baby shower and who would sit with me still after the next. It's going to be hard losing that support system. But if they can do it, if the Lord paved a way for them...surely, He has paved a way for us. That which is now will not always be. And one day, hopefully in this lifetime, the Hubs and I will be the successful, financially stable parents we long to be.

Labor Day Weekend: River Tour and The Civil War

2011-09-24T10:10:00.000-04:00

This post is greatly over due. Some of the subject matter of this post I couldn't decide how I wanted to handle and in thinking about what to do, I completely forgot about it. Which isn't fair to my parents who shared this weekend with us, and without whom the experience would not have been possible. As I write this, I'm still not sure how I'm going to present the pictures I took for the later half of our weekend, so I'll just start with the beginning and see what I come to when the time arrives.

Friday my parents were to arrive. Unfortunately, both TJ and I had to work, but he was lucky enough to be home to welcome them. I had to take the bus, but was greeted by three loving faces instead of just one when I was picked up at the bus stop. It's always nice to have family around! We spent the rest of our Friday afternoon with a much needed grocery shopping trip to get all our necessities for the following days and by just hanging out around the apartment.

Saturday we started our day with a trip up the Duquesne Incline. This has become a tradition with any visiting family member and I think is one that should be, if it has not been already, adopted by every Pittsburgher native and transplanted.

It was a really hazy morning, and not because the air quality was bad (no inversions here!) but because it was so humid! You could literally see the moisture in the air. It made for an interesting view of the city.

After the incline we made our way down to the river tour docks on the Monongahela River. My mom had gotten us tickets for a luncheon river boat tour! We'd never actually been on the rivers in the two years we've lived here so this was something new that we all got to share together. The day was starting to get hot really fast so we were very grateful to get onto the air conditioned ship!

We ate way to much food (well, I did) and had quite the time watching all the interesting passengers. We walked some on the decks and sat on the top deck and watched the city pass by. I could only stand it for a short time (it was so hot!) so I went back inside, found a secluded table next to two floor length windows so I could still see everything outside. At some point I actually fell asleep and didn't wake up until the captain started announcing we would be docking soon!

I get motion sick fairly easy. I did pretty well on this little trip, which makes us hopeful that maybe some day we can do an ocean cruise over to Europe for when we want to visit my family in Germany. It was a little weird though watching how swiftly the water was passing us by in relation to how fast we were going. It didn't match up (the water was moving much more quickly than we) and TJ and I were having a hard time not getting sick off of that.

It was fun learning things about the city (like how we have the most bridges in one city in the world) and eating pretty good food.

After the tour we went to a yarn shop for me and my mom, bought some yarn, went and did some other things that I don't remember anymore... Then it was time to get ready for our trip the next morning.

My dad originally wanted to go to DC while they were here. But DC is a little too far and has so much to do that one day wouldn't have been enough to see it all. So we went to Gettysburg instead. As I write this I still don't know how I want to present the pictures and how much I want to say about our time there. It was a very humbling and awe inspiring experience to be standing in such a horrible place where brother fought against brother in one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The entrance.

An original canon.

The original stone fences soldiers hid behind.

One of the bloodiest battles ever fought was in this shallow valley at the base of Little Round Top.

The Pennsylvania Gettysburg Memorial.

The first unnamed soldier.

The Hubs hanging with Abe.

It's hard and awful to say that one enjoyed oneself or had fun at such a solemn place as Gettysburg. But we did enjoy being in each others' company and learning about a pivotal point in our nation's history.

Monday we took my mom to Ikea and my dad to Cabella's. I think we just hung out the rest of the time. I had to go back to work on Tuesday because we're not allowed to take any time off for the next several months, so the Hubs got to spend Tuesday with my parents until they had to take off and go back home. I wish we could have spent more time with them, that we could have taken an entire week to go explore and do more things, but that just means they'll have to come back for a visit again some time soon!

The End of Summer

2011-09-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

Summer sure is nice, but there's nothing like the end of it for the following reasons:

You get lots of yummy veggies at the end of it!! I had so many tomatoes I didn't know what to do with, so they all were sliced up, put in a tupperware container, sprinkled with some chopped up basil, and drenched in balsamic vinegar. They will be my lunch for the next several days. Surprisingly enough, the yellow paste tomatoes and balsamic made a great pair, evening each other out.

The glorious pepper were chopped up and made into a from scratch stir fry. I wish I had taken a picture before we ate it all up, because it was absolutely delicious! I don't remember what The Hubs did to the chicken, but the stir fry was made up of linguine noodles sprinkled with a little parmesan, purple beans from the garden as well, the peppers and four jalapeno peppers. It was the perfect southwestern stir fry!

I sure do love homegrown veggies!

The end of summer also brought on the end of a project I've been wanting to do since the beginning of the year:

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! I love how it feels and I adore how it looks! You can read all about the project on my crochet blog. But now it's time to take a break from knitting and focus on spinning up some yarn...especially the yarn that I started spinning way back in February!! Yay for Fall!!

One of My Sore Spots

2011-09-20T12:22:00.001-04:00

As someone who struggles with infertility, one of the hardest things to hear is about abortions. It seems selfish to me, to remove life because you don't want to go through the pain/stretch marks/responsibility. It hurts because there are so many couples out there who would take that unwanted child and love them as their own.

In my high school AP Biology class we were learning about DNA, heredity and chromosomal abnormalities. We watched a video about birth defects. One of the interviewees, who at the time was in her fifties, had a down syndrome son and said that if she had known he would be born with that disability, she would have aborted him, she never would have let him come into the world. I was reminded of this video because of this article The Hubs found.

Needless to say, I was very disturbed by it.

It sadens me that people are so afraid of imperfection. That some would kill a baby still in the womb if they saw that a foot was missing. While the doctors and technicians should have done more in their power to see that all necessary tests were done to make the couple aware of their child's disabilities, I don't know that such a hefty price should have been awarded to two people who would have killed their son had they known otherwise. If you make the conscious decision to have children, you should be prepared to take that child however they come to you.

I'm glad they got money for the child they never wanted. If years later they decide that the $4.5 million isn't enough to hide the fact that they still don't want their deformed and disabled son, I will gladly take him.

Dropping the "I" Bomb and Feeling the Relief

2011-09-18T19:40:00.000-04:00

Today The Hubs dropped the "I" bomb in church.

He is the Sunday School teacher in our ward and for his lesson he was focusing on how we make ourselves pure. The discussion eventually led to how charity comes in, and what the "pure love of Christ" is and how one obtains it. Many comments were given. One in particular was along this line: "You can only experience and know what the true love of Christ is when you have children and experience the love that you have for that child." Before the comment was finished I looked up at the head of the classroom at The Hubs' face to see it had turned sour, tears forming in his eyes, his face turning red. All I could think was "Oh, Lordy, if he doesn't say something about this he will blow." He looked over at me, asked quietly "Is it ok if I say it?" I nodded slowly and quietly, knowing that if he couldn't respond the way he needed to, the lesson would suffer because of his hurt and anger.

He said something along the following lines: "I have a confession to make. My wife and I have been struggling for the past three and a half years with infertility. We are facing the possibility of never having a child. So are you telling me that I in my situation can never know what that charity, that kind of love is?"

So now everyone knows.

The Hubs dropped the infertility bomb.

It changed the nature of our later lessons. Which was on the responsibility of the family and its members. Our Relief Society teacher made sure to talk about each "type" of sister, the one who was unmarried, the one who was a single mother, the one who could not have children, the one who could, the older one who's children have all left, and their role in their own types of family. It is wonderful that our Church focuses so much on the family, because the family is such an important anchor for the human being. But I think that this tight fisted focus on the family causes a neglect and disregard for those who can't have or don't have a family and inevitably causes them to feel left out. I was very happy to hear that today's lesson included all types.

In many ways it feels like a huge shameful secret has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel like I don't have to hide my hurt, anger, disappointment. But mostly I'm glad that it opened people's eyes to the fact that such comments are incredibly hurtful, that you can only ever obtain "spiritual x" if you have "a" and "b". There are many out there who may never have children, and yet there are other ways to obtain that true love of Christ. There are many out there who may never marry, or don't have a father, or have a partial member family, and subsequently don't have the priesthood in their household, but that does not mean that they can never experience the power of it because it's not in their home.

And then the lesson moved on to patience and obtain patience in order to make ourselves pure. The Hubs said "Charity is long suffering. Picture the most charitable person that you know. Can you imagine them being anything other than perfectly patient? Are you perfectly patient? If not, work on it."

And then someone said "Just wait until you have kids, Brother Hewitt, and you'll see how hard patience is."

...

Seriously? I think they meant it as a joke... No one in the room thought it funny.

Big Fat Mean Stupid Heads: Politics - Nothing More Than Six Year Olds in Expensive Suits

2011-09-13T12:33:00.001-04:00

I hate politics. I think it's one of the most fake, facade ridden institutions. Especially present politics.

We have come to debate season for the Republican party. The GOP. The Grand Old Party. The Hubs and I listen to NPR whilst sitting in traffic as he's taking me to work. It's a recurring story, the Republic debates that are going on. And I can't stand to hear any more of it.

I am not a liberal. Not by a long shot. But I also don't find myself an ultra-conservative. I'm just me. I have my principles and my beliefs and a lot of them don't seem to fall in with any of them. So I don't align myself with any of them. And who would honestly want to?

These days politics has turned in to name calling. That's all it is. The radio spouts out little sound bites of candidates arguing and yelling at each other. And this is within parties, not even Republican and Democrats against each other. It's ridiculous. Instead of having actual discussions about poignant issues and things that need to happen to save America, candidates bite at each other's throats. They are all six year olds in expensive suits, vying for Mommy's love and attention calling each other "big fat mean stupid heads". A popularity contest for Homecoming Queen where the girls' campaigns focus on how the other girls are bigger sluts than they.

The issue should not be who's the bigger slut. The issue should be that America is in a lot of trouble and we need to get out of it.

I have a coworker who is defensive of our President. Whenever someone complains about how our President isn't living up to their standards her come back is always the following: "It's not his fault. He's just cleaning up after Bush's mess." I hate this statement for the following reason: it passes all responsibility off of our current President, giving him permission to sit on his bum in the Oval Office eating bonbons.

I had faith that politicians, presidents, governors, were doing what they thought was best. That is all we can ever hope. But now politicians are doing what my coworker is giving permission for: passing fault and blame to relieve themselves of all responsibility and accountability (something six year olds do). Stop calling each other big fat mean stupid heads and passing blame. Stick to what matters: that our country is dying.

Sorry this is all over the place.

The Hubs' Hand Spun Socks!

2011-09-11T17:19:00.000-04:00

Remember this yarn from earlier this year? The green one? Well, it's finally been made into something! I couldn't be more proud of how they turned out!

The Hubs is pretty happy with them too. They're a little big even though I used US 2 dpns instead of the US 1 recommended in the pattern because I was right on with gauge with them. The pattern is from "Teach Yourself Visually: Sock Knitting" and is called Slip Stitch Ridges Socks. It is a very easy, simple pattern to follow. Great for sock beginners. There is an error in the pattern though. When it comes time to turn the heel it should read for Row 4: sl 1, p to 1 st before gap, p2tog, p1, turn.

The yarn itself was fabulous! I can't believe I knit a pair of socks with yarn that I spun myself! It's one thing to knit up something made from bulky yarn that I spun, like the Eggplant at Sunset Mitts, but knitting something from a yarn that needs to be fine enough for socks is such an accomplishment in my book! I'm not completely sold on the huge blocks of color, but I'm getting over it because of the mixing bands where two colors come together. My favorite combo is the silver and neon green. Maybe next time I'll do smaller color repeats!

Another Baby!

2011-09-08T17:18:00.000-04:00

This little guy also only wanted to snuggle and didn't really fancy a fancy hat, but that's ok because his little rolls were enough to make for great pictures!

I Would Still Have Kids

2011-09-06T06:42:00.001-04:00

Two years ago, I posted a question to my fellow readers. The question was if you knew that you would pass on a genetically fatal disease to your child, one that would result in that child's death in a few short years, would you still have children. I've been thinking a lot about that question lately. A dear friend recently lost her daughter and my heart aches for her and her family. I don't know how I would deal/come to terms with such an ordeal.

I talked with the Hubs about it a few days ago. When I first posed this question to him the same time as my readers he said he would continue to have children. I said I wasn't sure. Today our viewpoints have flipped.

In the car on the drive home from picking me up from work I asked him that question again. He said that he didn't think he would be able to do it. I asked him why. After a moment's pause he said he didn't think he could deal with the disappointment and hurt. I asked why again. He said it felt it would be a cruel joke. I asked if it was because of what we were going through right now. He said yes, that after all we've been through, the almost four years of trying to have a child, that if we were to finally be blessed with one only to have it taken away from us by death, he would be completely destroyed.

I understand my husband's thoughts. When I started to mull this hypothetical situation in my head it was one of the first thoughts that presented itself. But then I started to think about my friend who lost her daughter and the things they went through to have her and their reasons behind it.

Even now, after all these years and even if we still have more to come with nothing to show for, if by some miracle after all those years as well we learn of some genetically fatal disease that we carry I would still have children if we could. Our struggle for a child has made me appreciate life so much more. Every spirit that comes to this earth deserves to fulfill the measure of it's being, no matter how short their time may be and it is not my right to take away their opportunity to have that body because I don't want them to die. And I feel that having a child for only a short time is better than having no child at all. Perhaps that last statement is selfish of me.

I can only hope that I never have to face such a situation, but that if, God forbidding, I ever do, I will be able to do as I said I would. I draw strength from my friend and her little family. I wish I had the faith she does and strive every day to find it. Whenever I find myself thinking that God must hate me and my spirit starts to crumble I think of her, her husband, and her adorable girls. I hope one day to be like her.

The Fourth for the 300th Post

2011-08-26T06:39:00.001-04:00

A confusing title, I know, but this post is full of numbers. It is my 300th post and it is about a fourth, that is a fourth in a line of men to all have the same name. He was a trooper of a little guy! He loves to snuggle and only wanted to do that, so getting some of the shots was a little difficult! But I fell in love with his little face and was determined to get some great shots and I think we succeeded. I've been trying to get a shoot with the baby's head propped up on their hands and haven't been able to until this guy. He's incredibly strong for a newborn!

Still to come: One more baby!!

From the Garden: Yellow Pizzas

2011-08-22T18:00:00.002-04:00

The time has finally come where seeds sown in spring have born fruit and are ripening! Since my last post on our garden (the yummy fried zucchini) we have had a few more wonderful homegrown experiences. We made a zucchini soup from over a pound of zucchini that grew since our last post. It was absolutely delicious! I failed to take any pictures and regret it terribly. Needless to say, after having made this soup countless number of times (it's one of our regulars and a favorite) with store bought common zucchini, making it with homegrown heirloom and a different variety of zucchini opened our eyes! It was the best tasting soup to date! It was sweeter and bolder and played well with the spices called for in the recipes. The recipe we have is from the Lion House cookbook should you feel inclined to try it yourself.

But on to the real purpose of this post, and that is we have finally made the yellow pizzas we've been dreaming about since winter! We finally had enough yellow paste tomatoes to make a small batch of tomato sauce, just enough for two personal sized pizzas! Here's how it went...

We cleaned and plopped our six "little" tomatoes in a pot of water. We simmered them for about an hour and a half to cook just the outside.

Once we saw the skins start to split we hurried them over to a bowl of ice water to put the cooking process to an immediate halt. This is supposed to make it easier to peel off the outer skin.

Which is exactly what we did next. They were some very meaty tomatoes!!

We then quartered them, rinsed out the seeds and goo and left them in a strainer to drain out as much water as possible.

After that it was straight into the pot with no water and just a touch of salt until they got really mushy. We don't have a tomato saucer thing so this was the best we could do. The Hubs said that if he could do it again he would mash the tomato concoction after it had cooked down.

We then seasoned to taste!! Normally with store bought tomato sauce, just the straight up stuff, not Ragu or Prego or anything like that, just plain tomato sauce, we would have to add sugar to balance it out, but these tomatoes were naturally sweet enough that we just added our garlic, oregano and a bit of salt. Isn't it gorgeous!!

My pizza.

The Hubs' pizza. Our basil has been going, well, crazy. we have a ton of it and not enough uses for it!! Until we found out that added wholes leaves to our mini pizzas was actually really good. The Hubs went a little crazy...

I have always found homemade pizzas (well, homemade anything) to taste so much better than anything store bought or delivered. These pizzas topped even the greatest of homemade pizzas!! We were not disappointed that evening except that we wished we had more sauce to we could each have another!

An Engagement: B + M

2011-08-19T06:07:00.007-04:00

About three weeks ago I got this really weird email in my spam folder. The subject line of said email was "Brother and Sister Hewitt"... That caught my attention. Not many spammers know that I answer to Sister Hewitt! Or to even call be by that title. So I read it. Wouldn't you know, it was a young woman and her fiance in desperate need of engagement photos right away! Someone from our ward had slipped her my name when she called up asking for any ideas on who could do engagement photos for her. Ah, the power of word of mouth! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have taken this couples' photos. They were a lot of fun and I know they will have a very happy life together!

Congratulations B and M!! May the Lord bless you in all your doings!!

Still to come: Babies!!

Well Deserved Selfish Knitting

2011-08-17T06:47:00.001-04:00

The season of having to knit/crochet baby things has passed!! I completed my last baby gift of the season! To my knowledge no one else is knocked up that I have to make anything for! Which means I've had more time to either finish projects I've had to put on hold (like the Old Man Sweater for the Hubs), and to start a selfish knitting project. Selfish knitting does not have a bad connotation, by any means. The purpose of having any talent which produces something in the end is to share it with someone else. So I have been more than happy to make things for others' little ones. But I think I deserve a little something now. So I finished a little vest:

Forgive the poor pictures quality, I did take it with my phone. It turned out more of a little cap sleeve top and I would never really wear it with the shirt shown, but I just needed to take a picture of it quick so I could post it on Ravelry and here. This is the vest I was working on in the Nauvoo pictures. I really like the way it turned out. The only unfortunate thing is I don't have much that I can wear it with. I have two button up blouses the Hubs thinks would work well, but one is a long sleeved top and I get really warm at work...so it may be a little while before I can fashionably wear it. So now it's back to knitting and crocheting for others. I have a million socks to knit for the Hubs and one baby gift I completely forgot about....

Somebody's Partyin' Because They Got Married!Josh and Jill's Special Day: A Photo (Incredibly Unedited) Essay in Three Parts

2011-08-15T16:09:00.001-04:00

Josh and Jill: Do not download these! Wait until we've had a chance to edit all of the ones we took!

Somebody Got Married!Josh and Jill's Special Day: A Photo (Mostly Unedited) Essay in Three Parts

2011-08-13T15:57:00.000-04:00

Somebody's Gettin' Married!Josh and Jill's Special Day: A Photo (Unedited) Essay in Three Parts

2011-08-11T15:57:00.000-04:00

Better Late Than Never: Newborn Photos!!

2011-08-05T17:49:00.000-04:00

Sorry these are "late". But here are some of my favorites as promised!!

Coming Up!!: Even MORE newborn pictures, an engagement, and a wedding!!

Why You Want Me and The Hubs at Your Party

2011-08-01T16:48:00.001-04:00

Sorry the picture is so dark.

My Desired Next Toy: Kick Spindle

2011-07-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

If I'm too poor to own a spinning wheel but still want the feel and ease and what seems to be a faster pace than just spinning on a spindle, I think what is called a kick spindle might be a good alternative!

No Kids Allowed

2011-07-27T05:45:00.000-04:00

I found this article on the Yahoo main page this morning and was a little more than upset at our society today:

No Kids Allowed

The Old Man Sweater to End All Sweaters

2011-07-24T17:33:00.001-04:00

So for a long time I promised The Hubs a sweater... way back in February... Well, I've finally finished it!! Lots of people were having babies and then I just got bored with the pattern and unfortunately his sweater got left by the wayside. But I persevered and overcame my C/KPADD and gave him what I promised!

For this project I used the pattern from Lion Brand "Forever Classic Heirloom Cables Adult Cardigan". It's a mouthful of a title and a mouthful of a pattern! The cable repeats become pretty memorable after a little while and over all the cardigan doesn't look that bad. I do wish that it had been written in a "no seaming" form, like raglan, etc., because stitching this together was really a pain. The fabric was heavy and the cables made the pieces cinch terribly (it probably/might have helped if I had blocked the pieces, but at that point in time I just wanted to get the darn thing done with!). Having to knit and sew on the collar band at the same time was tedious and not something I am ever anxious to do again.

The yarn I used was Fisherman's Wool of the same company. Not a bad wool overall. The Hubs picked it out himself because it was scratchy and a tweed kind of color. All trademarks necessary to make the quintessential old man's sweater. As a fiber to work with it wasn't too bad. It did rub on my fingers some, but it didn't pill and is easy to rip back with no troubles. But it is really scratchy. So while I probably would never choose it again for a garment that is to be worn next to the skin, for a project such as this, a cardigan to be worn in the winter over longer sleeved shirts, I say it fit the bill.

The Hubs is happy with his old man sweater and I am glad to be moving on!!

Breaking Up With Etsy

2011-07-20T06:26:00.001-04:00

I think I am officially and completely done with Etsy. I can't say that it has been profitable for me in any way. I have sold only 10 prints over the two years I have been on there. Five prints per year. Maybe if I felt comfortable selling them at gallery prices five prints in one year wouldn't be too bad. But the fact of the matter is, Etsy is so over saturated with people who do what I do that really the only way you can distinguish yourself is: you can't. Especially if you don't follow the trends. Which I don't. I try to take honest fine art as I see it in the moment. Perhaps that is why my success on Etsy doesn't exist.

So I am slowly coming to the decision to close up my shop. I haven't sold anything for a while now, and it's become something I don't want to pay for anymore. So I think I'll just let all of my items expire and never renew them... yeah, that sounds good.

The Fruits of Our Labor: Fried Zucchini

2011-07-17T16:37:00.000-04:00

It seems like the summer is already half way over! Our tomatoes are still blooming and popping out little tomatoes here and there but have yet to ripen! We had a terrible travesty with our pepper plants (their containers wasn't draining so they were drowning!!) and aren't sure if we will get anything from them this season. The pole beans haven't flowered or produced anything as of yet either. This is my first season with them so I'm not sure what to expect.

But today we had our first taste of the fruits of our gardening labor!! And all thanks to the Zucchini plant, that seems to always produce and over-produce like their species will go extinct! The funny thing about our zucchini plant, though, is the fact that if I didn't intervene we wouldn't have gotten any zucchini ever. Here's the story. Earlier in the season I noticed that the female flowers were coming with their little tiny zucchini buds. But none of them were ripening. They would turn yellow, shrivel up and fall off. I was devastated! I quickly did some research as to what the cause could be. A lot of my sources cited a calcium deficiency, a lack of water and such. But I knew it couldn't be either of those because I fertilize and water regularly. Then I came across a source that said potential fruits will die off when they are not fertilized! I didn't even realize that there were no insects or other pollinators in the area! I just figured nature would do its thing. But like in our own case, nature did not do its thing and a third party had to give aide. So I watched patiently and looked every day for any female flowers, making sure I caught them at the right moment when they were in bloom, and if they were I took a q-tip and dipped it into a male flower, covering the q-tip with the pollen. I then rubbed the pollen covered q-tip all over the insides of the female flower making sure to get each square inch covered in pollen.

And at last we finally had success with our first little zucchini fruit! I kind of left it on the vine a little too long. The description on the seed packet said "tennis-ball" sized fruit...and as you can see, this guy is definitely larger than a tennis ball. But it only confirms that the longer you leave a zucchini fruit on the vine, the larger it will get!

We could not let this masterpiece go to waste! It had to be consumed in the most delectable form we could think of.

For lunch we decided to try and fry the zucchini. It would be a simple and light dish so that we could still get the full and original taste of this very tasty looking zucchini.

The Hubs sliced the little guy up, upon which he noticed that the insides smelled like pumpkin instead of the typical "zucchini" smell. We were doubly curious now as to what it would taste like. As you can see in the picture there were a lot of huge seeds! Which made me wish even more that I had taken it off the vine sooner.
We then prepared a bath of flour and egg. We halved the slices and dipped them first in flour, then in egg. We melted butter in a frying pan and cooked the zucchini evenly on both sides. I don't remember for how long, but just to where the zucchini is as soft or as crunchy as you like, preferably though to the point where the egg is completely cooked.

This makes a great side dish!!

Simple recipe rundown:

Fried Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 Ronde de Nice zucchini

1/2 cup flour

3 eggs (beaten)

1 Tbsp butter

The Process:

1. Slice your zucchini

2. Dip the slice in flour, covering it entirely

3. Dip the slice in the eggs, covering it entirely

4. Melt butter in pan

5. Cook zucchini slice in pan until it is as soft or crunchy as you like

6. Repeat for each slice

7. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

The end result was absolutely delicious!! The Hubs thinks this type of zucchini (Ronde de Nice) is sweeter than your common zucchini. He has a far more sophisticated and sensitive palette than I so I'll just take his word for it. All I have to say is: this zucchini was spectacular! And thank goodness we didn't use all of it so that we can share it on Wednesday when we are grilling with friends!! I'm excited to see how it does grilled!

Hewitt Family Reunion in Nauvoo Told in (Unedited) Pictures

2011-07-12T17:13:00.001-04:00

Ezekiel (Zekers), son of Edward and Namtip.

The Hubs showing the kids how to walk on
stilts.

This device is used in making barrels and is called
a Schnitzel-Bank. Apparently it does exist outside
the song "Oh du schöne, oh du schöne, oh du schöne
Schnitzelbank!"

My brother-in-law Isaac and I knitting. He a "Doctor-Who" inspired scarf,
me a vest.

Face painting with Aunt Angela.

Anya, daughter of Isaac and Megan.

Jaynann, daughter of Edward and Namtip.

Spencer, son of Isaac and Megan.

Zachary, son of Isaac and Megan.

A lovely flower.

Another lovely flower.

A carriage ride through rural Nauvoo with history bits. Not everyone was
heeding to my call of attention for "Hewitts in all shapes and sizes".

A lovely distraction from a history lesson.

The first Ox I ever pet. His name was Owen. (This is
not my hand in the picture.)

This next five pictures are of Carthage Jail. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Downtown Nauvoo...

The men from left to right: Edward, Edwin, Brian (Pa), Isaac, Timothy
The women from left to right: Namtip, Angela, Lucinda (Ma), Megan, Me (the Behemoth)
The kids from left to right: Jaynann, Anya, Zachary, Calvin, Spencer
(Unfortunately not pictured: Zekers (who was asleep, Emily and Dan (who could not come))

The original Hewitts.

I'm not going to comment on this picture and all three of these guys know why.

Cousins Jaynann and Anya, best friends forever.

A Hewitt send-off.

Our final night in Nauvoo was spent on our bikes riding through old Nauvoo
with the sunset on the Mississippi as a fitting backdrop.

The Best Burning of Money Ever

2011-07-05T18:44:00.001-04:00

There is no better way to waste your money than to spend it on fireworks. You literally get to see your hard earned cash go up in flames. It is superb. We've only ever heard of the fantastic spectacle that is made in downtown Pittsburgh for the 4th of July and this year I was determined to see what all the hula-baloo was about. I had tried to convince the Hubs last year, but he wouldn't have it. This year I succeeded but only after promising to be the one to drive. Rather than get stuck in all the mess that would have gone down at the Point, I decided to take the higher road by finding us a spot at the top of Mount Washington (it's the "mountain" the Duquesne Incline goes up). We found a lovely spot in the late afternoon and just hung out watching all the water sports on the rivers waiting for the show to start.

Super fast boat racers!!

There was some super sneaky weather that came along with the show.

We actually watched the rain come in. It was really cool to watch until we
remembered we had friends downtown who were going to get hit by it.

We would have warned them but were getting hit ourselves, though not as bad
as the poor spectators downtown.

Even after the surprise shower had passed and gone people were still leery about
coming out from underneath the bridge.

Pittsburgh is truly a beautiful city.

I took a ton of pictures of the fireworks display but have only posted my absolute favorites. Enjoy!!

This one kind of looks like a face to me.

Probably my absolute favorite shot of the night.

Because of the low pressure system that blew through (the rain storm) the
smoke from the fireworks was just hanging around so by the time the finale
rolled around this was all we saw which made us laugh.

And left half of the city of Pittsburgh covered in darkness.

There's an Etiquette Code for That?

2011-07-03T08:36:00.000-04:00

I was dinking around on the internet when I came across this article shared on another young lady's blog who is also working through infertility. She originally found it on Resolve's website (an organization for the support of couples facing infertility, couldn't find who actually wrote the article). She only gave her favorite bits, but I've decided to share all of it. It's an article directed at the friends and loved ones of people struggling with infertility. While I haven't experienced some of these with my friends and family, I thought it an interesting and point-on read; it gives you something to think about. I've interjected some of my own thoughts in bold.

Infertility Etiquette

Chances are, you know someone who is struggling with infertility. More than seven million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility. Yet, as a society, we are woefully uninformed about how to best provide emotional support for our loved ones during this painful time.

Infertility is, indeed, a very painful struggle. The pain is similar to the grief over losing a loved one, but it is unique because it is a recurring grief. When a loved one dies, he isn't coming back. There is no hope that he will come back from the dead. You must work through the stages of grief, accept that you will never see this person again, and move on with your life.

The grief of infertility is not so cut and dry. Infertile people grieve the loss of the baby that they may never know. They grieve the loss of that baby who would have had mommy's nose and daddy's eyes. But, each month, there is the hope that maybe that baby will be conceived after all. No matter how hard they try to prepare themselves for bad news, they still hope that this month will be different. Then, the bad news comes again, and the grief washes over the infertile couple anew. This process happens month after month, year after year. It is like having a deep cut that keeps getting opened right when it starts to heal. (For a long time this was the hardest part for me. I dreaded each month and knew there could be no possible way I would be pregnant, but I always had this secret hope that maybe mother nature and God would prove me wrong, and then of course with each passing month and cycle my dread was affirmed and my naive hope dashed to pieces.)

As the couple moves into infertility treatments, the pain increases while the bank account depletes. The tests are invasive and embarrassing to both parties, and you feel like the doctor has taken over your bedroom. And for all of this discomfort, you pay a lot of money.

A couple will eventually resolve the infertility problem in one of three ways:

They will eventually conceive a baby.
They will stop the infertility treatments and choose to live without children.
They will find an alternative way to parent, such as by adopting a child or becoming a foster parent.

Reaching a resolution can take years, so your infertile loved ones need your emotional support during this journey. Most people don't know what to say, so they wind up saying the wrong thing, which only makes the journey so much harder for their loved ones. Knowing what not to say is half of the battle to providing support.

Don't Tell Them to Relax

Everyone knows someone who had trouble conceiving but then finally became pregnant once she "relaxed." Couples who are able to conceive after a few months of "relaxing" are not infertile. By definition, a couple is not diagnosed as "infertile" until they have tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for a full year. In fact, most infertility specialists will not treat a couple for infertility until they have tried to become pregnant for a year. This year weeds out the people who aren't infertile but just need to "relax." Those that remain are truly infertile.

Comments such as "just relax" or "try going on a cruise" create even more stress for the infertile couple, particularly the woman. The woman feels like she is doing something wrong when, in fact, there is a good chance that there is a physical problem preventing her from becoming pregnant.

These comments can also reach the point of absurdity. As a couple, my husband and I underwent two surgeries, numerous inseminations, hormone treatments, and four years of poking and prodding by doctors. Yet, people still continued to say things like, "If you just relaxed on a cruise . . ." Infertility is a diagnosable medical problem that must be treated by a doctor, and even with treatment, many couples will NEVER successfully conceive a child. Relaxation itself does not cure medical infertility.

Don't Minimize the Problem

Failure to conceive a baby is a very painful journey. Infertile couples are surrounded by families with children. These couples watch their friends give birth to two or three children, and they watch those children grow while the couple goes home to the silence of an empty house. These couples see all of the joy that a child brings into someone's life, and they feel the emptiness of not being able to experience the same joy.

Comments like, "Just enjoy being able to sleep late . . . .travel . . etc.," do not offer comfort. Instead, these comments make infertile people feel like you are minimizing their pain. You wouldn't tell somebody whose parent just died to be thankful that he no longer has to buy Father's Day or Mother's Day cards. Losing that one obligation doesn't even begin to compensate for the incredible loss of losing a parent. In the same vein, being able to sleep late or travel does not provide comfort to somebody who desperately wants a child. (There are women at my work who have "problem" children. On numerous occasions these women will make comments to the affect of "I wish I didn't have them", look at me and say "Just be glad you don't have to deal with stuff like this". It is literally the most awful thing said to me. At the time, to their benefit, they did not know of our struggle to conceive so they did not know that such a comment would be so cruel. But even still, I would gladly take every single one of her "problem" children every day.)

Don't Say There Are Worse Things That Could Happen

Along the same lines, don't tell your friend that there are worse things that she could be going through. Who is the final authority on what is the "worst" thing that could happen to someone? Is it going through a divorce? Watching a loved one die? Getting raped? Losing a job?

Different people react to different life experiences in different ways. To someone who has trained his whole life for the Olympics, the "worst" thing might be experiencing an injury the week before the event. To someone who has walked away from her career to become a stay-at-home wife for 40 years, watching her husband leave her for a younger woman might be the "worst" thing. And, to a woman whose sole goal in life has been to love and nurture a child, infertility may indeed be the "worst" thing that could happen.

People wouldn't dream of telling someone whose parent just died, "It could be worse: both of your parents could be dead." Such a comment would be considered cruel rather than comforting. In the same vein, don't tell your friend that she could be going through worse things than infertility. (I went to a coworker for comfort one day. I told her my problems. She told me "This is not bad news. My husband getting diagnosed with cancer, that was bad news." This bugged me. It hurt. I suppose cancer will always trump infertility, and I suppose cancer will always trump everything. But in that moment, that isn't what I wanted to hear. It made me feel like my worries and heartache were less important, that if I or my husband were diagnosed with cancer that we would then be justified in our feelings.)

Don't Say They Aren't Meant to Be Parents

One of the cruelest things anyone ever said to me is, "Maybe God doesn't intend for you to be a mother." How incredibly insensitive to imply that I would be such a bad mother that God felt the need to divinely sterilize me. If God were in the business of divinely sterilizing women, don't you think he would prevent the pregnancies that end in abortions? Or wouldn't he sterilize the women who wind up neglecting and abusing their children? Even if you aren't religious, the "maybe it's not meant to be" comments are not comforting. Infertility is a medical condition, not a punishment from God or Mother Nature. (No one has said this one to me, or the Hubs (at least I don't think so). But I have had dreams where some have. Because I know a few people who would. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ if Latter-Day Saints this is the hardest one. I've thought it more than once myself. That maybe I'm just not meant to be a mother. Since the majority of the people I associate with are members of the church I don't get any of these comments, because I think we generally believe that God wants all of us to be parents, I mean, we are commanded to multiply and replenish the earth are we not? So really, the hardest thing to hear, and that I get most often is "It will happen in the Lord's time." Which bugs the crap out of me. Yeah, in the Lord's time, but you don't know when that is!! It's not a comfort. Because the Lord's time could be after I'm dead!!)

Don't Ask Why They Aren't Trying IVF

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a method in which the woman harvests multiple eggs, which are then combined with the man's sperm in a petri dish. This is the method that can produce multiple births. People frequently ask, "Why don't you just try IVF?" in the same casual tone they would use to ask, "Why don't you try shopping at another store?"

Don't Be Crude

It is appalling that I even have to include this paragraph, but some of you need to hear this-Don't make crude jokes about your friend's vulnerable position. Crude comments like "I'll donate the sperm" or "Make sure the doctor uses your sperm for the insemination" are not funny, and they only irritate your friends. (Thank goodness I have better friends and family than this!)

Don't Complain About Your Pregnancy

This message is for pregnant women-Just being around you is painful for your infertile friends. Seeing your belly grow is a constant reminder of what your infertile friend cannot have. Unless an infertile women plans to spend her life in a cave, she has to find a way to interact with pregnant women. However, there are things you can do as her friend to make it easier.

The number one rule is DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR PREGNANCY. I understand from my friends that, when you are pregnant, your hormones are going crazy and you experience a lot of discomfort, such as queasiness, stretch marks, and fatigue. You have every right to vent about the discomforts to any one else in your life, but don't put your infertile friend in the position of comforting you.

Your infertile friend would give anything to experience the discomforts you are enduring because those discomforts come from a baby growing inside of you. When I heard a pregnant woman complain about morning sickness, I would think, "I'd gladly throw up for nine straight months if it meant I could have a baby." When a pregnant woman would complain about her weight gain, I would think, "I would cut off my arm if I could be in your shoes."

I managed to go to baby showers and hospitals to welcome my friends' new babies, but it was hard. Without exception, it was hard. Stay sensitive to your infertile friend's emotions, and give her the leeway that she needs to be happy for you while she cries for herself. If she can't bring herself to hold your new baby, give her time. She isn't rejecting you or your new baby; she is just trying to work her way through her pain to show sincere joy for you. The fact that she is willing to endure such pain in order to celebrate your new baby with you speaks volumes about how much your friendship means to her. (This is the hardest one for me. Especially with nine women being pregnant this year at church, I got to hear a lot, A LOT, of complaining about swollen feat and back aches. The thing is, other people being pregnant isn't only hard for the woman, it's also hard on the man as well. The Hubs' boss is pregnant. And she likes to complain about it. She would talk about how hard it is to walk up stairs now and blah blah blah. He told me he really wanted to kick her. I had someone ask me if they could show me the cute baby things they bought for their impending bundle of joy or if it would just piss me off. I of course never say no to cute little things (I'm a miniature enthusiast). But then this friend promptly started to complain about how hard it is to get up from the couch and blah blah blah. I wanted to say how her complaining pisses me off more than having people show off their cute baby stuff. But I didn't. Of course.)

Don't Treat Them Like They Are Ignorant

For some reason, some people seem to think that infertility causes a person to become unrealistic about the responsibilities of parenthood. I don't follow the logic, but several people told me that I wouldn't ache for a baby so much if I appreciated how much responsibility was involved in parenting.

Let's face it-no one can fully appreciate the responsibilities involved in parenting until they are, themselves, parents. That is true whether you successfully conceived after one month or after 10 years. The length of time you spend waiting for that baby does not factor in to your appreciation of responsibility. If anything, people who have been trying to become pregnant longer have had more time to think about those responsibilities. They have also probably been around lots of babies as their friends started their families.

Perhaps part of what fuels this perception is that infertile couples have a longer time to "dream" about what being a parent will be like. Like every other couple, we have our fantasies-my child will sleep through the night, would never have a tantrum in public, and will always eat his vegetables. Let us have our fantasies. Those fantasies are some of the few parent-to-be perks that we have-let us have them. You can give us your knowing looks when we discover the truth later.

Don't Gossip About Your Friend's Condition

Infertility treatments are very private and embarrassing, which is why many couples choose to undergo these treatments in secret. Men especially are very sensitive to letting people know about infertility testing, such as sperm counts. Gossiping about infertility is not usually done in a malicious manner. The gossipers are usually well-meaning people who are only trying to find out more about infertility so they can help their loved ones.

Regardless of why you are sharing this information with someone else, it hurts and embarrasses your friend to find out that Madge the bank teller knows what your husband's sperm count is and when your next period is expected. Infertility is something that should be kept as private as your friend wants to keep it. Respect your friend's privacy, and don't share any information that your friend hasn't authorized.

Don't Push Adoption (Yet)

Adoption is a wonderful way for infertile people to become parents. (As an adoptive parent, I can fully vouch for this!!) However, the couple needs to work through many issues before they will be ready to make an adoption decision. Before they can make the decision to love a "stranger's baby," they must first grieve the loss of that baby with Daddy's eyes and Mommy's nose. Adoption social workers recognize the importance of the grieving process. When my husband and I went for our initial adoption interview, we expected the first question to be, "Why do you want to adopt a baby?" Instead, the question was, "Have you grieved the loss of your biological child yet?" Our social worker emphasized how important it is to shut one door before you open another.

You do, indeed, need to grieve this loss before you are ready to start the adoption process. The adoption process is very long and expensive, and it is not an easy road. So, the couple needs to be very sure that they can let go of the hope of a biological child and that they can love an adopted baby. This takes time, and some couples are never able to reach this point. If your friend cannot love a baby that isn't her "own," then adoption isn't the right decision for her, and it is certainly not what is best for the baby.

Mentioning adoption in passing can be a comfort to some couples. (The only words that ever offered me comfort were from my sister, who said, "Whether through pregnancy or adoption, you will be a mother one day.") However, "pushing" the issue can frustrate your friend. So, mention the idea in passing if it seems appropriate, and then drop it. When your friend is ready to talk about adoption, she will raise the issue herself.

So, what can you say to your infertile friends? Unless you say "I am giving you this baby," there is nothing you can say that will erase their pain. So, take that pressure off of yourself. It isn't your job to erase their pain, but there is a lot you can do to lesson the load. Here are a few ideas.

Let Them Know That You Care

The best thing you can do is let your infertile friends know that you care. Send them cards. Let them cry on your shoulder. If they are religious, let them know you are praying for them. Offer the same support you would offer a friend who has lost a loved one. Just knowing they can count on you to be there for them lightens the load and lets them know that they aren't going through this alone.

Remember Them on Mother's Day (and Father's Day)

With all of the activity on Mother's Day, people tend to forget about women who cannot become mothers. Mother's Day is an incredibly painful time for infertile women. You cannot get away from it-There are ads on the TV, posters at the stores, church sermons devoted to celebrating motherhood, and all of the plans for celebrating with your own mother and mother-in-law.

Mother's Day is an important celebration and one that I relish now that I am a mother. However, it was very painful while I was waiting for my baby. Remember your infertile friends on Mother's Day, and send them a card to let them know you are thinking of them. They will appreciate knowing that you haven't "forgotten" them. (I actually had a friend do this this past Mother's Day. That particular day was, as you remember, the worst day ever. But the card given me wasn't a Mother's Day card, which was great and perfect, but a little note with sweet words of comfort and hope. At church on mother's day they always hand out little roses and chocolates for all the mothers and mothers-to-be; I never feel right taking one and usually set it off to the side of the pew and leave it behind. But this wonderful card I took with me and still have.)

Support Their Decision to Stop Treatments

No couple can endure infertility treatments forever. At some point, they will stop. This is an agonizing decision to make, and it involves even more grief. Even if the couple chooses to adopt a baby, they must still first grieve the loss of that baby who would have had mommy's nose and daddy's eyes.

Once the couple has made the decision to stop treatments, support their decision. Don't encourage them to try again, and don't discourage them from adopting, if that is their choice. Once the couple has reached resolution (whether to live without children, adopt a child, or become foster parents), they can finally put that chapter of their lives behind them. Don't try to open that chapter again.

I'm glad I came across this article. It says things that I never felt comfortable saying myself to others. I hope it doesn't offend.

How Does Your Garden Grow? (Redux)

2011-06-30T06:45:00.001-04:00

I didn't realize that the link wasn't working and that you all weren't actually able to view the video, so here's a repost with hopefully a viewable link!

Booze and Social Networking

2011-06-25T08:01:00.000-04:00

Just Some Thoughts:

1. I am the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at work now. I no longer have someone to talk to about, well, things that really matter. These days I have to "talk" to people about partying (which I don't do), clubbing (which I also don't do), and drinking (which I am glad I don't do). The conversation of drink usually ends up with a questioning of what drinks everyone seems to like and will usually always get. When it comes around to me I always have to remind people, because they (should) all know by now my religious affiliation, that I do not partake in alcohol. Which is usually followed up by an "Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, you're not missing out on anything." This response always bugged me. If I'm not missing out on anything...then why do people drink? By never being inebriated I have been able to watch those who have and I know I'm not missing out on anything. And if they realize that there is nothing so great about drinking, then why the heck do they still do it?! I know there is no great fascination with the process of getting drunk and then the dependable hangover and headache the following day. Is that short buzz in between really what makes drinking "worth it"? And if so it still doesn't make any logical sense to me at all. You ask a friend what they thought of a movie they saw in the theatre and they reply "It was the two most torturous hours of my life. Horrible. You didn't miss out on anything. Don't even bother seeing it." to which they promptly go back to the theatre and watch the same horrible movie again and again. Why would you do that?

2. It has been a little over four months since I left the over-hyped social networking site "Facebook". Honestly it feels like it's been a lot longer. I had that debacle in November where they accidentally deleted my account and I didn't mind (except that they thought I was being shady), and actually feel like it was then that I cut my ties to the black hole of social networking. In the four months since physically removing myself from that awful place I can't say that I feel any different than when I was still "socializing" on it. I feel about as recognized/appreciated/noticed as I did then. Which is around a big fat "0". I do, however, feel that I am heard better. That is: I may have fewer followers of my blog than I had on Facebook. But more than likely all 150 people who considered me "friends" skipped over my status updates on to those whom they actually cared about. Here, on our humble blog, I know that there are only ten people who care to read, but at least I know that those ten are (hopefully) actually reading what's going on in our neck of the woods. But what is most important is that I removed myself from something that was causing me grief. I felt ignored on a "socializing website". My social awkwardness somehow translated into the digital. I was tired of all the pregnancy announcements, the curse words, the negativity, the requests for Cafe World and Mob Wars crap. Facebook made me feel like a loser. So now I am living my life still as a loser, but only because of my own vices.

The Little Sweater to End All Sweaters

2011-06-17T06:20:00.001-04:00

I hav recently finished a little sweater to end all sweaters. It was an IOU baby shower gift for a mother whom I didn't have enough time to make something for since it was during our illustrious move from our ghetto apartment to a basement to our fantastic new place. Both parents are very tall and I asked to our closest very tall friends what size they thought I should make for their son come winter time with the prospect that he's probably going to be larger than your average bear. So I made the 12 month size:

You'll have to forgive the poor quality of this picture as I took it with my cell phone. It was a very simple hooded jacket made with bulky weight yarn so it only took my about a week. It's the "Little Pink Riding Hood" pattern from Chic Knits for Stylish Babies, a fun and exciting pattern book gifted to me by some very dear and kind friends. I've been aching to make stuff from the book and am glad that I finally had a reason to.

Coming soon: "newborn pictures" (only 4 days old!!) and "how do you make your garden grow?".

Month Old Baby Photos

2011-06-03T17:50:00.000-04:00

These are a couple quick shots I took for dear friends of ours who let us live in their basement whilst we were waiting for our new place. They are some of the best people we know and I was glad to take a few pictures of their awesome little baby on his blessing day.

Memorial Weekend Projects

2011-06-01T17:28:00.000-04:00

So I've been knitting an old man sweater for the Hubs since about February. Needless to say, the sweater is starting to grate on me. I'm finding it hard to want to press on with the darn thing. I've decided that it was necessary to give myself little intermittent projects to kind of clean out my "darn this fliberty sweater"-ness and reboot myself to continue on with the task. My most recent "taking a break" project was this:

This baby hat was made with Hometown USA yarn (a super bulky weight),
crocheted through the back loop only and then sewn on sparkling white
buttons in the layout of a flower.

This baby hat was made with a combination of white aran weight yarn with
stripes of bulky thick and thin hand spun purple/weight/lime green/tencel
yarn.

A very simple yellow two by two ribbed baby hat.

This hat is my absolute favorite! I got the idea from the Spring issue of
Spin-Off magazine's "Tricera Tops Hat" by Meghan Croson. It was knit from
left-over hand spun yarn that I used on my "Little Shells en Plaine Aire" shawl.

All of these baby hats that I've made are photography "prop" hats to be used for newborn photo sessions. I've decided that as something to kind of set myself apart from other newborn photographers, I'm going to give one of the hats used in the session as a free gift for the parents to cherish and continue to use if they like. What do you think?

Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival

2011-05-23T18:16:00.001-04:00

I have moved into the realm of fiber nerd. That's right. I am a fiber nerd. So much so that I made my husband take me to the Waynesburg 5th Annual Sheep and Fiber Festival. I came across the advertisement in my copy of Spin-Off magazine and the moment I saw it I made the Hubs promise to take me...believe it or not he had fun too!

Rather than just droll on about what was there and what we did, I'm going to try and let the pictures do all of the talking.

Llama

Angora Rabbit

Alpaca

This sheep didn't like me too much...

The little lams were so adorable! It was hard to get a good shot of them, the mothers were so protective!

I got to try my hand at spinning on a wheel. This is the Kromski Minstrel,
I've decided it's the wheel I want whenever I can have one. The gentleman
who was instructing me said I did very well.

There was also a sheep dog demonstration that also included duck corralling...
it never really went very well.

Here we have a succession of photographs of me feeding the alpacas.

My most beautiful of faces... In my defense hand feeding alpacas is a strange
sensation, as they only have teeth on their bottom jaw, which means they
grab at the food with their huge upper lip.

They were such lovable little creatures.

Only the coolest and most unique bottom whorl drop spindle ever!
We bought it from the epitome of the back woods wood worker, complete
with grizzly grey/black/white long hair, beard and missing teeth.
He was awesome! I only wish I had gotten his picture.

One of the things we really wanted to see was the sheep shearing demonstration. We were both curious as to the process, since we plan on having sheep of our own whenever our ship comes in and we can get a huge piece of land and grow all sorts of plants and raise all sorts of livestock. It was such a unique and rather beautiful process that I've decided to add just about every single picture I took of the gentleman and his ewe.

Believe it or not, she is actually quite
comfortable or else she wouldn't even be letting
him do this.

I love this picture. We learned that this gentleman
bottle fed and raised this ewe from a lamb. They
have a very deep and loving relationship.

The ewe's winter coat is now up for being turned into yarn!

Then it was time for sheep herding:

The unsuspecting...

The sheep herding went a lot faster and was far more successful than the
duck herding.

My treasures!

All rather fitting!

I'm sorry, I just can't get enough of the beauty of this spindle!!

I had so much fun at the festival. I'm really glad that the Hubs got to spend all day with me. It was a great day of firsts (feeding alpacas, spinning on a wheel, watching sheep herding, stopping at CiCi's for lunch)! I am proud to call myself a fiber nerd!

Video Blog: Our New Home

2011-05-20T18:44:00.000-04:00

Turning a New Leaf

2011-05-18T06:46:00.000-04:00

This past week has been emotional for me. Part of it may have been that I was sick through the majority of it. But never the less, I found myself in tears. I thought a lot about what was pushing me to react the way I was to the situations that made me cry. The attendance of a baby shower with all of my church friends, each one more pregnant than the next talking about due dates and the like. Finding out that yet another woman in the ward is expecting. Then the following day listening to all the Mother's Day talks. I found myself thinking that my fear of becoming the very last and only person in the ward to not be a mother was becoming reality.

So after all that I realized that this was not the woman I wanted to be. I've been reading about and thinking a lot about Sarah and Abraham. She no longer seems this saintly and faithful woman to me. She is very much an "infertile". The woman who cries over not being able to have children, when it seems everyone else can. The one who hears the same sentiments over and over again "Oh, it'll happen for you" and just doesn't believe them anymore. But she also gets angry. Angry to the point where she throws people out of her house. Angry to where she can only appreciate her trial until after the fulfillment of the promise she was given, which was a son.

I don't want to be like her.

It isn't every day that you hear someone saying they don't want to be like a scripture figure, especially one (who up until recently) was always revered as someone who you should figure yourself after, especially since there aren't many female characters in the bible to begin with.

What bugs me the most about Sarah is that she cannot appreciate her trial until after she gets what she is promised. She remains bitter until that day. That is what I don't want to be like. There may never be the day where I'm shopping for baby clothes or getting ready for my own baby shower. And if there never is that day I don't want to be bitter my entire existence waiting for a promise that won't be given to me in this life. Because as I've written before, I've resigned to the fact that I may never be a mother. Now, I need to take the necessary steps to acceptance and be grateful for this trial now so that I don't have to make up for what I was supposed to have learned from it when I'm 90 on my death bed.

As a playwright the only way I know how to deal with something is to write about it. But my and the Hubs' story will not be told in the form of theatre. It will be in the form of long prose; a book. There is one scripture, one of the last things we hear Sarah say at the end of her ordeal, when she finally has Isaac and can be the mother she was promised she would be. She says "God has made me laugh, so that others might hear and laugh with me." In Hebrew "laugh" has two meanings, that of rejoicing and that of reproach. Not knowing which is meant in the aforementioned statement gives the statement double meaning, and what I think is a very fitting double meaning. The trial of infertility is one of reproach and hopefully for some rejoicing. God gave this trial to Sarah so that she may experience it and so that others might learn from her. That is my goal. In dealing/coming to terms/accepting and being grateful for my trial I want to write a book, through the unique perspective of an LDS couple, so that others who find themselves in the same painful circle can find solace, understanding and hope.

Coming up in the next post: A video tour of our new apartment!

Mile Markers

2011-05-05T06:36:00.000-04:00

Monday: I turned on the radio to hear the words blared over NPR "This is the special coverage of the death of Osama Bin Laden." I was shocked. It felt surreal. Was this true? Ten years after that fateful morning he was gone? What was even more surreal was the partying and elations being had. How is the celebration of his death nothing like their celebration of ours? To celebrate someone's demise, no matter how awful that person was, seems...disrespectful, petty, childish. While Bin Laden's death gives closure to many families and allows many others to sleep peaceful without fear, to celebrate the death of one of Heavenly Father's children... well, I just can't find the words for it.

It is definitely a mile marker in history. A mile marker made possible by thousands of men and women. Not one man sitting behind a desk in Washington, it is not his victory. But many. Thousands. Thousands who died, thousands who worried whether they would be the next to die. And all so that they could find one man and bring peace to the rest of their nation and the world. It bothers me to hear those around me say "Way to go, Mr. President." Because it wasn't him with a gun strapped to his chest wearing camouflage stealthily moving through a foreign hostile country. While he deserves a feather in his hat for this "accomplishment", he does not deserve the crown. Do we give credit to then president of the nation for winning WWII? I should hope not. Neither should we here. We give credit to those who physically fought the fight.

Wednesday: I drove past a gas station. It read $4.05 for regular unleaded 87 grade gasoline.

The author of this post would like to emphasize that this is all personal opinion and not a hammering of others'.

I'm In The Club

2011-04-28T18:21:00.000-04:00

So you remember the little shop from the craft fair that I told you about? You know, the one that I absolutely loved and totally regretted not having bought anything from while I was there?... Well, I gave in and bought my desirables from their online shop.

And I became the newest member of their Letter Writers Alliance in the process!!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this! I love the idea of being part of something that fosters the art of doing something by hand and that doesn't rely on a machine to make it "easier" for you...

Hmm...

Kind of sounds like everything I'm into right now.

But I've already professed my love for letter writing (even though I've been completely slack in my letter writing as of late, what with life going on) so this isn't really anything new for me.

I'm hoping though, and I believe it will, that this fancy little correspondence log book and the subsequent membership to an exclusive club that gives me access to all sorts of vintage and handmade treasures (and new pen pals!) will give me the extra motivation to start writing again.

I love that the log was hand made. I love the little initiation letter that came with my membership. I love my little membership card!

I love everything about 16 Sparrows!!

Anyone who wants to can become a member. Check out their website if you're interested!

Photographs are copyright (c) Melanie Marie Hewitt 2011. Product designs are copyright (c) 16 Sparrows. Reproduction of these images and copying of product designs is strictly prohibited.

In Need of a Home

2011-04-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

Our plants are taking over!! They have gotten too big!! Even counting back from the average last frost date taking into account the recommended germination time, my little seedlings are turning into full-fledged plants!!

One big surprise came to me when I woke up one morning and came into the living room saw this magnificent flower blooming on one of my zucchini plants! The zucchini have been the most prolific plants thus far, so it isn't too surprising that they are already blooming (especially since the first blooms fall off anyway), but I still can't believe how big they've gotten so quickly!

My salad greens are starting to look more like real salad leaves. I'm really looking forward to tasting these little guys when they finally are eatable!

My tomato plants have really shot up as well! Look at those suckers! I'm so proud of them. They needed to be transplanted into peat pots as well, they were starting to shade the smaller seedlings still growing in my seed starter kit.

I'm happy to report that it finally got warm enough for my pepper seedlings to sprout! Now that we have real sun coming through the windows (and the fact that I caved in and bought a grow light) they have been really showing some progress. They're leaves are a beautiful dark green and nice and broad.

The purple basil has been such fun to watch and grow. The leaves start off with a nice pale green and slight purple tint and then turn completely purple. I'm excited to see how they taste.

This is my little grow center. I sometimes worry about people walking past the patio, looking in and thinking I'm growing, well, you know. But the grow light has certainly helped my little sprouts. They're color is a lot better and their stalks are a lot stronger.

Now they just need a home!! I have nowhere to put them! The weather is still too unpredictable and it still gets too chilly at night to plant them outside. Not to mention that we're moving on Saturday and won't have a patio to put them on until the 11th! I guess they're just going to have to hold out as long as they can!

Only In Dreams

2011-04-21T15:00:00.001-04:00

Dreams are an interesting part of sleep. They are also an interesting part of our waking life. Only in dreams are we ever able to obtain that which reality keeps us from. We become super heroes, we drive fast expensive cars, we grow "glow in the dark" spinach and zucchini. Only in dreams are we able to become that which we are not.

I had a dream last night. This was my dream:

The Hubs and I were at a huge party. All of our friends were there. All of them, past and present. Children were all around us. All of the grown ups were there. And by grown ups, I mean our parents. While were still adults ourselves we were more or less secluded from the "grown ups", left to be with the children. This was for all young adults like us. This was a special party, because we had some very special news. I could feel the butterflies culminating in my stomach as I was preparing to find the right moment to share with all our loved ones our happy announcement. I kept thinking to myself "It's my turn now, I finally get to tell everyone we're expecting." My hands were shaking as I looked around. I knew I was expecting. I could feel it in my bones. I got up to make my announcement. But suddenly in the back of my mind I thought to myself "Wait. You're bleeding right now. You bled every month for the past three months. There is no way this is possible. You are not pregnant." I ran off to find my mother. And when I did she only got aggravated at me for bothering her while she and the other grown ups were having their discussions. I cried.

The dream ended there.

I've come to the resignation of the reality that I will probably never have my own children without the help of modern medicine or by some poor soul who carried one but couldn't keep it. I've resigned to the reality that I will probably never feel what it's like to grow a little person inside of me. I've resigned to all of that because I knew that at least in my dreams I can be the mother that I desire to be more than anything. I can be like all the other women with their joyous swollen bellies carrying the miracle of life. I had my dreams for that. My current reality infiltrated the last place I had where I could be and have what I wanted. Somehow my subconscious has decided I'm not allowed to have that anymore.

If we can no longer have our dreams to fulfill our deepest but unrealistic desires, where else can we turn to?

Hand Made Smorgasborg

2011-04-18T23:28:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I had the opportunity to attend an amazingly large craft show! You know me; how could I pass up THE craft show of the year?! I had missed it the year before, had no idea when it was this year but luckily received a phone call with an invitation to attend with two of my friends. I was there!

There were so many fantastic artisans and "try it out" booths (we all got to try our hands at screen printing a large poster of a jackalope, it's going to hang on the wall of our new apartment). I found five shops that I fell in love with there, and have kicked myself for not bringing any of their unique wears home with me! Here are links and eye-candy of my absolute favorites:

Herban Lifestyle

I loved Herban Lifestyle for the pun. And for a great product they introduce with the slogan "WTF? What the fuzz?"

Image (c) Herbal Lifestyle

It's a line of herbal felt soaps. I have to admit, I have never tried felted soaps, and have actually been quite leery of ever trying them. I mean...washing yourself with felt...it seems like it would feel weird. But their informational little postcard they gave me said that felt soaps are great for exfoliating and state that the wool is naturally antibacterial, so you don't ever have to worry about a washcloth getting nasty hanging in the tub. While I still wonder what washing with felt would feel like, the slogan alone had me wanting to take one home and have my first go with felted soap!

Oceanne: Whimsical Wearables

My friends and I were greatly impressed with the jewelry and smithery of Anne Harrill of Oceanne. It may have had something to do with her adorable practically newborn baby that she had by her side, but there was a unique and, rightly named, whimsical quality to her jewelry.

Image (c) Anne Harril of Oceanne

My absolute favorite piece of hers was of two little love birds perched on a wire. The one she had on display did not have a dangle jewel, and if I were to ever purchase this necklace I wouldn't want the dangle on it. But I love the intimacy of the birds and I love the imperfect groves of the bar the birds sit upon, giving it that necessary hand made stamp.

Among her other glorious wears were headbands and rings.

Wearable Jules

Wearable Jules was just an absolute find! It was down right make yourself sick adorable!! And here's why:

Image (c) Wearable Jules

Aren't these some of the cutest little barrettes? One of my friends that I went with has a little girl and I think these would have been disgustingly cute in her hair! I'm kind of sad that she didn't get a pair, and I'm kind of sad that I didn't get a pair for her. C'est la vie. What they are: little felted birds with bead strung legs and wings and hand sewn beaks.

While these definitely stole the show for me Wearable Jules also has fantastic felt jewelry.

Laura George

The craft fair was inundated with all sorts of illustrators and print makers, but one has stuck with me ever since I came across a print of hers that spoke to me. Laura George has that whimsical quality that has encompassed the hand made world today. But I still find her style refreshing, calming and accessible. It's modern without being overbearing, especially since the Hubs and I don't find ourselves to be "modernists". I would decorate my home with art from Laura George. Especially when she provides such heart warming prints like my absolute favorite:

Image (c) Laura George

When I saw this print at the show I immediately thought of the Hubs. In lieu of everything that has been going on in our life right now and wondering if anything that we are doing is even the right thing or what we should be doing, it seemed like that overwhelming calming spirit that we all desire to experience in the midst of chaos. It was a reaffirmation for me, and this is one that I definitely kick myself for not having bought when I saw it. But luckily she is on Etsy and I can always get it there... But there's nothing like getting it the moment it inspires you, now it would just seem like an afterthought...darn my non-impulsiveness!

16 Sparrows: Sarcasm folded in half

I loved 16 Sparrows for many different reasons. Mostly because they are literally "sarcasm folded in half". Their humor is not for the faint of heart. It suits mine just perfectly. They cater to a demographic that hardly exists anymore: the "by hand letter writers". I haven't been as up to snuff as I would like with my own letter writing, but with their fantastic products you can't help but be inspired! Instead of a business card or post card advertising their wears, they handed out pencils!

Image (c) 16 Sparrows

One of my friends found this card on their table. It suited me perfectly and one of these days I might get the opportunity to actually use them!

I love everything that 16 Sparrows stands for. Their whole purpose in doing business is to get people back into and to sustain the art of letter writing. While they do use the internet and emails for business purposes, they main goal is to get people back into the more intimate act of writing letters. They have an assortment of stationery, envelopes, notecards, etc all printed and designed in a very vintage style! They even had this awesome correspondence log book where you write down incoming and outgoing letters and whether or not they have been responded to. It looks just like an old ledger book. It was another find that I kick myself for not grabbing...

The craft fair was great fun followed by a trip to a mini fresh donut shop where I got to try a maple and bacon donut for the first time (It's surprisingly yummy!!)! Hopefully we'll still be around next year so I can go again!

The Adjectives of a Timothy

2011-04-14T13:24:00.003-04:00

While my wife is away, let's talk about women. One of her coworkers is having a baby. This isn't incredibly surprising as everybody, it seems, is having a baby. One of the 'Coworker Having a Baby' traditions is the office baby shower. One of the baby shower traditions is the communal gift. Usually a supervisor is the coordinator of said gift.

So it was with Melanie. Her supervisor went about and let Melanie know that this was going to happen and Melanie acknowledged that the information was received and expressed a desire to know the desired contribution. This additional information was never delivered. As such she decided to do something else to show her friendship to the undelivered mother and forego the cash contribution. She didn't think it was a big deal. Little did she know, she works with women.

You see, in addition to the communal gift there is usually a card passed around expressing congratulatory adulations for the parturient person. All are invited to sign this card and signatory is allowed to express individual felicitations. But apparently with this particular card there was a cover limit.

Because Melanie did not contribute to the communal gift, she was forbidden to congratulate her friend with the rest of the office staff, but not expressly. Others were told, and Melanie overheard, to sign the card but to not let her sign.

I can't tell you how much this hurt her and aggravated me. How petty must one be to say, "We must forbid our coworker from signing this card expressing our joy on behalf of another coworker because that first coworker did not contribute." Did they really think that Melanie would take all of the credit for the gift (imagine John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence)? Did they think that her signature would make the gift less appreciated (there is only so much love this card can express and I want my fair share)? Was everybody else signing along with a statement of their pecuniary muneration (i.e. "Congrats on the kid!!! Love, Betty, $4")? I should say that Melanie and the gravid woman are friends. They car pool every day. And Melanie is doing something very nice in lieu of cash donation.

I guess what I'm saying is if it were a bunch of guys we 1) Would not have put together a baby shower, and 2a) if we did, everybody would sign the card and 2b) there would not be a gift because 2ci) what do you get a pregnant person or 2cii) we just aren't motivated to do that stuff and 3) if there were a gift, it would be the money that we had in our pockets that day and possibly a two year old adamantine Tootsie Roll. As such it should be noted that the one guy in the office gave the card to Melanie and she signed it anyways. Take that, women.

Also, 2 bonus points: Find the adjectival redundancy. Prize for the winner.

The Road to Self-Sufficiency: Washing, Drying, Dyeing and Carding Fleece

2011-04-06T21:11:00.000-04:00

Some time ago the mother of a friend sent me a box full of raw sheep wool, also known as fleece. I was pretty excited to give working with raw wool a try. Because let's face it, the next step down from spinning my own yarn is preparing my own wool! And ladies and gentlemen, I have done it!

Gaze at the beauty of the raw fleece! Boy did it smell like something else! I can't even describe it. What was even worse was the smell of the fleece while it was soaking. To get a more workable fleece you need to remove the lanolin from the fibers. It smelled atrocious.

Needless to say, washing raw fleece is my least favorite part of the process. I soaked the fleece in hot soapy water twice and twice in plain hot water. It took the better part of an entire day.

Luckily that afternoon the sun was shining and it was relatively warm outside, so I took advantage of it and let my newly washed fleece dry in the sun. Of course Pittsburgh weather turned on me and I had to move my stash inside.

Carding the fleece is far more satisfying a task (a special thank you to the wool spinner for the carders)! I thoroughly enjoy brushing the fibers straight and making rolags. Simply washing the fleece didn't remove as much vegetable matter as I would have liked, luckily carding the wool does, but there was still more than I wanted. Doing research later I learned that I should have skirted the fleece (removing the nastier parts) before washing it. Eh, live and learn.

I decided to give dyeing with Kool-Aid a try. I've heard great things about dyeing with this tasty powder beverage and was excited to try.

Instead of dyeing un-carded fleece I dyed my rolags. I used a combination of directions from my spinning buddy and from an article from Knitty.com. I used a single package of Kool-Aid, about nine rolags, a rough estimate of 2 tablespoons of salt and roughly 1/4 cup of white vinegar. I mixed the Kool-Aid, salt and vinegar and brought the mixture to a boil. Once boiling I reduced the mixture to simmer and added my rolags. I let the rolags simmer for about 30 minutes. They sucked up the dye so fast!! I find it interesting that no matter how much water you add, it makes no difference. The only relation that determines the saturation of the dye is how much power you add in relation to how much fiber. The less powder, the less saturated. It's pretty simple!

I'm so thrilled with how my first batch of washed, carded and dyed wool!! I had to re-card the fiber, which I'm actually glad that I did because it removed even more vegetable matter (even though there's still some left). I've decided to call this colorway "Creamsicle". It reminds me exactly of the orange creamsicle ice cream pops. Other than the actual washing part, I've enjoyed every aspect of the fiber preparation. It's so much fun! Now all I need to learn: raising and sheering sheep!!

Yarn!!

2011-04-02T13:24:00.001-04:00

I've really been in a spinning kick. I can't get enough of it! There is something satisfying in spinning your own yarn for your own projects! It's a fantastic feeling.

I recently finished some sock yarn. (I have yet to gauge which category it actually falls within, but my guess is its probably a sport weight.) It's going to be made into some fun socks for the Hubs.

The fiber is called Posy Toes Sock Fiber that I bought from a LYS called Natural Stitches here in Pittsburgh. It's overall a great blend of wool and nylon, which should make for excellent socks!

Now I'm working on a fingering weight merino and tussah silk blend yarn. I bought some fabulous top whorl spindles from The Woolery. They are the KySpindles Foal model. The spin beautifully and are well balanced. I'm using Tammy Rizzo's Navajo Ply on the Fly technique (search her on YouTube) and I'm totally in love with it! It's a great way to ply your yarn while spinning especially if you don't have more than one spindle or if you want to keep colors intact.

I've been looking more and more into spinning and possibly at some point in time, purchasing a wheel. But for right now I'm thoroughly enjoying my spindles. There's a book that I came upon during a little window shopping excursion to Barnes and Noble called "Respect the Spindle" by Abby Franquemont. She has some great tips and techniques for spinning on spindles that I could only ever have imagined. I'll have to see if my library has a copy; I'm very eager to learn what she has in store!

Coming up (hopefully): washing, carding, dyeing my own fleece!

Henrietta's First Photo Shoot

2011-03-18T16:00:00.001-04:00

She's definitely a Hewitt!

It May Not Look It Outside

2011-03-15T15:58:00.001-04:00

but inside, spring has sprung!

For this year's garden I decided to start my own seeds instead of buying young plants at the store or garden shop. It was the next logical step to accomplishing full self-sufficiency! I was really excited to start the process. I counted back the necessary number of weeks before our average last frost, bought my seeds and a handy-dandy seed starter kit. A real DIY gardner would have used flats instead of what I got, but with limited space you do what you can.

Here's our garden list for this year:
Continuing from last year we have Bruce our raspberry bush and Jill our grape vine (assuming both survived the winter)
New for this year:

Black Pear Tomato (purple heirloom)
Powers Heirloom (yellow paste tomato)
Red Rubin (purple basil)
Sweet Genovese (green basil)
Frigitello (heirloom bell pepper)
Common chives
Ronde de Nice (heirloom tennis ball zucchini)
Trionfo Violetto (heirloom purple pole bean) (seeds will be planted straight into the pot)
Alfresco mix salad greens (of the cut and come again variety) (seeds will be planted straight into pot)
Strawberry blite

I started my seeds on March 6th with much anticipation and excitement. I should have gotten a picture right when I planted them but here's a picture of them about three days later:

Sorry if you can't read the labeling.

Because this is my first year starting my own seeds I went the "cheater's" route and got a self-watering seed dome from Burpee. It's pretty nifty. All you have to do is water the large tray underneath once a week and the self-watering mat underneath the plant cells draws up water that then feeds through the drainage hole and up into the soil making sure the little seedlings are neither over nor under watered. I've had good results thus far as you will see:

This is after only ONE week of growth! I did not expect them to shoot up this fast, especially the zucchini!! I still haven't gotten the soil warm enough for the bell peppers to start popping up, but there is still time enough for them and I've strategically placed the "green house" underneath a heat vent.

I'm going to have to transplant the zucchini's into a peat pot I think, since they have become too tall for the green house and my other little seedlings still need the moisture. I'm pretty excited so far!!

DIY: Custom Lit and Lined Bookcase

2011-03-07T20:46:00.000-05:00

With our recent flooding issue in our apartment and the subsequent destruction of all our bookcases, it was necessary to start replacing them, a feat which we had been wanting to but had not yet started but now had the good reason to. But we decided these weren't going to be just your run of the mill bookcases. We decided to make them our own and share our project for a little DIY home decorating inspiration*.

What You Will Need:

Bookcase with no back (this can be a pre-existing bookcase, just remove the flimsy cardboard backing or if you have a real wood backing remove and adhere your choice fabric to it, our bookcase came from Ikea and is the new Vallvik model, we are very pleased with this bookcase)
Length of fabric (measure how tall and wide your bookcase is and cut the fabric with extra length on all four sides)
Under cabinet lights (any number you wish to have, can be either puck lights or strip lights, you choose! These are the ones we used from Lowe's.)
Power drill
Drill bit large enough for standard power cords to fit through (about 3/8" will suffice)
staple gun
marking utensil
tape measure
LOTS AND LOTS OF BOOKS and any other decorating tidbits you want to add

The Basic Idea:

If your bookcase isn't already built you are in luck! It's much easier to drill holes and such in the top most shelf or whatever shelf it is that you desire to hang your lights from when it is not already screwed/nailed in place. To begin:

1. Measure where you want your lights to go. Divide your shelf in halves, thirds, quarters (you're the designer!) and mark the middle of each to get your lights perfectly centered. (To find a good center point divide the length in half, then the width in half using the half mark of the length as your anchor.)

2. Drill at your desired center marks.

3. Follow the assembly instructions given in the package for the cabinet lights you chose. Feed the power cord through the bottom of the shelf up first before you start screwing the lights in place.

4. If your book case has back stops for its shelves you will also need to drill into these in order to feed the power cords to the back. Drill as close to the bottom of the back stop as you can. This will leave valuable shelf space. If you don't have a back stop, yay for you, one less thing to drill!

5. Feed the power cords nice and tight through the back stop so you cans till use the top most shelf.

6. Flip your bookcase over, back side up and lay out your fabric. We started on the bottom lining up the fabric on that side with only a little overlap and doing the same for one long side.

7. Fold over the edge of the fabric to make a nice clean edge. Staple the fabric along the edge of the back of the bookcase. This part is probably most easily accomplished with two sets of hands. One to staple and fold while the other holds the other two sides tight. Once you get the bottom and one long side stapled you can start to trim some excess off the top and other long side, but not too much because you still need enough to fold over and staple. Be sure to pull the fabric tight as you are working the top and last side so you don't get any funny wrinkles.

8. If you still have some excess fabric, do another trim. If you have lots of excess (like us) you can use the rest to make matching accent pillows for the room!

9. Finish assembling the wiring for your cabinet lights and plug in!!

10. Fill your shelves with LOTS AND LOTS OF BOOKS and fun decoration tidbits. *Because this entire project was inspired/dreamt up by the Hubs it was only fair that his special decoration tidbits, namely the Transformers lining the top most shelf, get a special place too.

Happy DIY!

Doomsweek

2011-03-04T07:07:00.000-05:00

Bad things usually happen in threes. This week bad things happened in fives. This has literally been the worst week ever. Let's start at the beginning.

Remember last year when after the Hubs and I had spent several days cleaning the entire apartment only to find that it was flooding? Well, it happened again. Not the cleaning part, but the flooding. And it wasn't clean water. No, no. It was nasty sewer water. A sewer main back behind our unit more or less exploded and flooded our apartment with nasty poo water. This also happened to be a night a big snow storm blew through, so the carpet cleaner couldn't come until the following morning. Falling asleep to the smell of human refuse is not pleasant. Luckily the only things that were damaged were our book cases which we have been wanting to replace for a long time.

Moving on.

Five days later, our car wouldn't start. Well, it would start but it was gurggling and sputtering and wasn't drivable. My visiting teacher was kind enough to drive us to a parts store. It took us the entire day to fix the car. And all we needed to do was change out the spark plugs and wire. In the process we realized we didn't have certain tools. So we had to walk 1 1/4 mile to the nearest hardware store to pick up the necessary things. All the while the Hubs' boss was constantly calling and asking when he thought he would be done because his help was desperately needed on a job no matter what or how late. And the entire time we were having difficulties getting the spark plugs and wire out and the new ones in. In the process we managed to snap an air hose that fed into the engine which means that after we got the spark plugs in the car wouldn't start because it needs the air. So we needed to walk somewhere to get some electrical tape because the super glue we had wasn't working. By this time the weather was getting increasingly numbingly colder.

In between fixing the car and warming up inside the apartment we got our gas bill for the month. Five days before it was due. Want to know how much they were charging us? $269. And it's to be paid in full. Our gas bills are less than an 1/8 of that usually. So we talked to management. They told us that the gas readings had been done incorrectly and that this was an accumulation of all the gas that we still owed because of it. We asked if we could split the bill because there was no way in high heaven that we could come up with almost $300 in five days. They said no and that we would have to pay in full within five days. Needless to say we were really put out 1) because it's not our fault that the meter was read incorrectly and 2) because they are making absolutely no concessions to help their tenants. We have positively decided that with the accumulation of floodings and this recent fiasco with the gas bill we will not be renewing our lease with these pigs and will be moving out at the end of our lease the last day in April.

On top of that blessed day we also learned that the Hubs may not have a job in two months. He could be out of a job around the same time we need to move into a new place. This puts a lot of pressure and worry about finding a new apartment because we don't know if we will still be here.

The worst thing that happened came the next day in the form of an email. It was from University of Pittsburgh informing the Hubs that he did not make it into grad school. Grad school was what would keep us here. Now we don't know where we are going or what we will be doing. A wave crashed in and took all our sand we were using to build our sand castle. But we are trying to stay optimistic. Things can literally only get better.

No Prom For You

2011-02-25T06:44:00.000-05:00

I had a dream the night before last. The Hubs and I were making our way to a big formal dance. I was the dance of the season and we really wanted to go. He was all dressed up in a super snazzy tux and I had on a slender yellow mermaid cut gown. We looked good. But at every turn something would keep us from actually getting to the "prom". We would make it to the foyer and then someone would tell us that they were out of ice and send us to go get some. Another time they told us to go run and get soda because they ran out of that too. Another time they told us to go to this train station to find someone. It was the scariest train station. We had to climb up rickety ladders and through unstable concrete bridges. We never did find the person we were looking for. In the end we never made it to the formal dance. We were sad because we knew that we would have rocked the house because we had practiced dancing and had some amazing moves.

This dream stuck with me. I don't really remember the majority of the dreams I have, but this one seemed to represent our current life to a "T". Our deadline for hearing back on whether or not the Hubs is accepted to Pitt's grad school has been pushed back another two weeks or so. We still don't know if he's in and can't plan our life until we know either way. We know he would be great in the program and worry that he won't make the cut. We also know that we would make great parents but seem to be shoved away from the entrance doors on that situation at every turn. We realized that we are 1 out of 4 couples in our ward who are not expecting or not already parents. It's a dance we desperately want to experience, especially since we know we would be great at it.

It's difficult to try and stay positive on things such as this.

Struggling with Infertility - Mormon Times Article

2011-02-22T08:14:00.000-05:00

Struggling with infertility

Author: Hikari Loftus See all from this author
Source: Mormon Times
06 December 2010 5:00am

Font size: - +

Jill Witt

Jill and Allen Witt of the Harvest Hills Seventh Ward.

As a child, it was easy to make plans for the future, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage."

Of course, there are many other important and essential life goals to complete between the lines of this childhood song, but it's not too far off from what women of the LDS Church plan for.

However, most of the time life doesn't pan out the way they envisioned.

The number of women in the U.S. with infertility problems is rising, and for many women in the LDS Church who have been raised with full intentions of becoming a mother, this has become a painful reality.

"I'm 27 (and) I was a mom by now in my head. I was going to be a young mom who had energy. Who knows, I might be an old mom now," said Jill Witt of the Harvest Hills Seventh Ward in Utah.

In 2005, Witt was preparing to serve a mission in the Ukraine. Three weeks before entering the Missionary Training Center, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition where tissue that behaves like the cells lining the uterus grows in other areas of the body, which can cause infertility.

"I remember asking the doctor, 'What does this mean? Am I not going to be able to have kids?'" she said.

Because the doctors were concerned that she could need surgery while she was in the Ukraine, her assignment was changed, and she was called to serve in Chicago.

"It has pretty much affected my life since I found out (I had endometriosis). It has changed a lot of things," she said.

Dr. Wayne Young, of the American College of OBGYN, said that the number of men and women with infertility problems is rising around the world. Some of the top reasons for rising infertility are due to sexually transmitted diseases, women delaying their childbearing years, sickness and unhealthy lifestyles.

"If everything is perfect, and you do everything right, it's still only around 24 percent (chance) per cycle," said Young. "Even after a year of trying, 10 percent of normal couples won't be pregnant."

Because of her condition, Witt and her husband, Allen, who have been married for three years, have been unsuccessful in having children.

Being members of a heavily family-focused church has been able to make the Witt's reality easier and harder at the same time.

"The gospel really blesses you in this trial. The calling we have now is Sunbeams. They look to us and come and ask us questions and give us hugs, and we'll teach them," she said. "I feel like in a way we are being able to use those God-given abilities to be a mother and a father in that way. It's been really helpful. I think the gospel really blesses you in that way. You can nurture in the gospel."

From the time they are in Primary, girls are raised thinking that someday they will become a mother. No one ever expects that to be a difficult reality to reach.

"I think that it's something you are born with as a woman. To not necessarily be a mother to a baby, but to nurture and, I gues because it's so stressed in the church that women are responsible for nurturing and boys to be priesthood holders, that when it doesn't happen, it almost makes you question your purpose," she said. "Not purpose for living but, 'What's my purpose in this little family that I have or in God's plan? What is God's purpose for me?"

Between the baby blessings, lessons on motherhood and people wondering why they haven't had children yet when they've been married for so long, sometimes church is one of the hardest places to be. Sometimes people can be very insensitive.

"At one point I was kind of shutting people out and getting offended at the littlest thing. Then, after thinking about it, I thought that it wasn't fair for me to get offended because they don't know what I'm going through," she said.

"So, instead when people make jokes about why we are waiting to have kids, I just come out and say, 'We'd love to have kids.' Or when they ask if we are going to have kids I just say, 'We've been trying.' I try to be upfront about it now so that people know. I talk about it more, and it's helpful for other people because they sort of know their boundaries instead of just guessing."

For Witt, it began as a painful, personal journey, and she wanted to deal with alone.

"In the beginning I wouldn't even let my husband in on it. I would take pregnancy tests by myself and cry, and he would never know," she said. "Finally, he saw me crying by myself and came and sat down with me and cried with me. He told me not to do it alone."

Since then, Witt started a blog to create a place where other women struggling with infertility have come and helped each other. From experience, she knows that it's a burden that a woman shouldn't carry alone.

"Those feelings of inadequacy and of, 'I don't fit in. I'm not fulfilling my purpose as a daughter or woman of God,' all those feelings will eat you alive," she said. "If you let someone else in who loves you and who will give you quotes from prophets or little things that help that makes the difference for me. I don't know if that is true for everyone, but it's true for me. It's a scary thing to do by yourself."

One of the biggest lessons Witt said she finds in her trials is learning how to work with the Lord or to align her will with his.

"It's so easy to fight back on this on this one. Especially with all the medical treatment out there it's like, OK, if I do this, it's going to work. It's still up to him," she said.

"I don't know if I'll ever know why I have to wait, but in the meantime I'm just trying to learn what I can and share with other people because so many people go through it alone, and it's sad to do this alone," she said. "You could very easily shut yourself out of Mormon society and from a lot of people because you are hurting, and you don't want people to know that."

Despite her trials, Witt remains firm in her faith.

"I just remember that his promises are sure and that whatever he has in store for me will happen. And being OK with that is the biggest thing I've learned," she said. "(I) just swallow my pride and recognize it's the Lord's will because good things have come of this, and I'm sure more good things will."

I Love It So Much I'm Posting It Here Too

2011-02-19T14:12:00.001-05:00

I'm so proud and loving my most recent "hand-made" accomplishment that I decided to post it here as well as my crochet/knitting blog.

I've been on a big knitting kick right now. I haven't crocheted since I made a little headband for a friend's baby's 1st birthday...it was pretty cute.... Anyway!

Back in December I decided to continue my trek through the spinning world and move my way up to finer and more exotic fibers for spinning. I found a wonderful colorway from Spring Tree Road, a fabulous shop on Etsy. When I first saw the roving I knew I had to have it. I toyed around with actually purchasing it though until I decided I couldn't pass up the opportunity. No one else was going to spin that fiber other than me!!

It's a beautiful 100% Bluefaced Leicester wool with shades of yellow, brown, mint and aqua. It spun like a charm! It's a worsted weight single with 13 wpi (not incredibly accurate, I need to get one of those little wooden wrap meter things).

The only thing was finding the right project to showcase this beautiful yarn. I decided on a shawl. Something not too lacy since the yarn and its colors needed to be the focus instead of the stitches.

I found the perfect match in "Little Shells", a pattern by Holly and Ella Knits which you can find for free on Ravelry. It's a great pattern if you've never knit a shawl before.

I've really been enjoying spinning the yarn for projects I want to make instead of going out and buying it. It's such a great gratification and sense of accomplishment knowing that I have the skills to literally start from the ground up. Well, not from the ground ground because I don't know how to raise sheep or shear them, but I have a basic idea how to prepare the fiber after that, so we'll say I'm pretty close to the ground.

People are always telling me how talented I am and how they could never do the things they see me make. While the compliments are always nice it hurts a little that they think they can't do this either. Because just a year ago I had no idea how to knit, and only five months ago I had no idea how to spin yarn. Anyone can be self-sufficient and talented if they want to be (a friend just posted about this as well and I couldn't agree with her more). All it takes is time, motivation and patience.

Famous Doctor comes out against Al Gore

2011-02-09T09:46:00.005-05:00

After putting on his "Barbara Streisand in the Prince of Tides butt-masking pantsuit", Dr. Tobias Funke (professional twice over: analyst and therapist) has just come out against Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth." He held up a map of todays temperatures and stated to the room,

"THIS IS NOT A FEVER." After this statement he sang a most tragic rendition of Amazing Grace. When asked why he decided to come out at this time he said, "No. I'm not coming out, per se." After explaining the question he responded, "[Because] this is ripe for parody. RIPE."

Can You Exist Without Facebook

2011-02-07T06:44:00.000-05:00

The question is not whether you can live without it, but whether or not you actually exist if you don't have a Facebook account.

My dear friends I say you can. And to prove it, I have deactivated my own account. That is right, I am no longer on Facebook.

I feel good about the decision, great even (I've come up with all sorts of things I'm going to do with my freed up "facebook" time, like updating my blogs on a regular basis and reading up on all sorts of DIY projects I want to try). It was one that came quickly as I realized my time spent on there was frivolous and pointless, and the longer I was on there the more I felt that my "friends" didn't really care and that I didn't really exist at all. Many say they are on Facebook because it's the only way they can, even would, keep in touch with certain people. To that I say "bah-humbug!" Facebook is not the end all be all!

I have decided to revert back to a more "intimate" form of communication with those I truly care and want to know about - that is, letter writing (heck, even email is more intimate than Facebook). I stopped for almost a year due to some very selfish reasons but realize that if I am to have the relationships I desire I need to reinstate that which made me feel like I really had some. No more fake communicating by clicking "like" buttons to show you care. It's time to reach out again!

Family Pictures

2011-02-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

As promised, even though two post came before this, here are the family pictures that I both took and was able to be a part of (without having to set the self timer) thanks to a cool gadget my parents got me for Christmas:

(except this one, the Hubs took it)

I left out the shots of me and my brothers on our own. But this is it! Enjoy!

DIY Home Decor - No Skills Needed!!

2011-01-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

I've been doing some DIY home decorating over the past several months, and today as my husband is still gone at his sister's wedding and I have nothing to do, I decided it was high time I document and share my creations and maybe get you all inspired to do it yourself as well!

Imitation Ikea Tie Rack

I got the idea for this from Ikea. Every once in a while the Hubs and I walk through Ikea to see what's new. A while back (like late summer last year) I saw this really cool tie rack. I decided to make one myself.

If you have an Ikea near you, you might have seen something like this. I give Ikea full credit for this device, by the way.

Materials

old pants hanger
a thin dowel (like 1/8")
12 4" metal embroidery rings (not hoops, there is a difference; they are located in the pre-made doily aisle in Joann's)
yarn (thicker, cotton is a great choice)
scissors
needle
glue (of some powerful sort)

The Process

First I crocheted around the embroidery rings and crocheted into the previous hoop as I went. If you don't know how to crochet you can easily just wrap the yarn around the ring and then sew the rings together. Too make sure though that the yarn stays in place and doesn't unwind I would glue the yarn to the rings. I then crocheted around the dowel and crocheted the dowel to the rings. After that all you have to do is clasp the hanger to the dowel.

The Cost

If you play your cards right this project can be cheaper than buying the similar tie rack at Ikea (which last time I looked (last year) was around $10). The next time you clean out your closet for Goodwill donations, hold on to a pants hanger. If you have a friend or family member who knits or crochets ask for left over yarn. Dowels are pretty cheap at hardware stores. The only thing you might have to shell out money for is the metal rings, but Joann's always has a sale and coupons! After thought - bracelets! Visit your thrift store and find some similar sized bracelets!

From my personal stand point I find that my version of the tie rack is a lot more sturdy than that one at Ikea. The joins of the rings are a lot more stable and seem less likely to snap and break.

I still have a hard time getting the Hubs to put the ties back on the rack after he takes them off every Sunday though...

Embroidery Hoop Art

Selling my photographs on Etsy I come across a lot of different forms of art. Some of them are so beautiful I could not keep myself from trying them out. One of these inspirations is what has come to be called "embroidery hoop art". It's a very simple but elegant form of home decor (and in some instances fantastic and impressive fine art) that I believe anyone with lots or no embroidery experience can create!

Materials

embroidery hoop (wood looks best but plastic works easily as well, just make sure it has one of the screw tops of maximum closure)
linen fabric (you can also use cross stitch fabric or even leftover printed fabric from a sewing project (I actually want to make one using printed fabric))
beads (whatever floats your boat!)
embroidery thread
embroidery needle
scissors
rubber cement

The Process

This project can be as simple or as complex as you want. If you're someone who need to plan out what your hoop art is going to show you can pre-draw where you want to place your beads and your embroidered lines. I free-handed mine. I like to find the beauty in art as I go. You don't string the beads on to the thread and needle before you begin (it's kind of hard to pull beads through a fabric).

Cut the fabric to fit your hoop and start embroidering! Place some rubber cement around the back side of the hoop to make sure the fabric doesn't slip out.

The Cost

This is another project that can also be very cheap. Split the cost of the linen fabric with a friend (half of one package of linen is enough for a 9in hoop). Use left over bits of fabric for smaller hoops! Find friends or family who embroider and ask for left over thread or use your own left over floss. Sometimes you can find old hoops at thrift stores and as always craft stores have sales and coupons. This project (with the use of sales and coupons) was only $5 and I have tons of leftovers to make more!!

Shopping List/Menu Frame

The inspiration came from our Christmas gift from our sister-in-law. I loved the idea so much I had to make one of my own! It's a great way to decorate your kitchen with something personal and fun!

The Materials

8x10 picture frame (with glass)
craft paper/scrap book paper
letter stickers
white board marker
length of ribbon/yarn/twine
hot glue
scissors
pencil

The Process

Using the display paper that comes in store bought frames, trace the outline onto the back of your scrap book paper so you have the proper fit for the frame...

and cut!!

Place the cut paper inside the frame and close up the back. With the frame all put together start placing your letter stickers on the outside of the glass (this makes sure you are able make sure you can actually see the words).

Place a dab of hot glue to the cap of your white board marker and tie your ribbon to it. Then place a dab of hot glue to the back of the picture frame and glue the other end of your ribbon to it.

Hang and enjoy!

The Cost

This project cost me (with coupons and sales) only $7 (not including the ribbon and marker because those were already provided with my sister-in-laws frame)!! If you scrap book you can use left over cuttings of paper and make a really cool looking paper collage for your backing! If you have stamps you can stamp your letters to the paper instead of buying letter stickers (unless you have those already too). Thrift stores are a great place to look for vintage frames. Hardware and craft stores have glass if you find a frame you love but that doesn't have a glass pane.

What I also love about this piece of home decor is that you can change out the backing with different papers to match the seasons! Another idea is to get a larger frame and split it in half - one side for the menu and the other for your shopping list!

I hope this inspires you some to get out your creative fingers!!

Our Family is Growing!!

2011-01-24T15:59:00.000-05:00

For my birthday the Hubs gave me a fantastic gift: a rabbit cage and the mental permission to have a rabbit!! I was really excited! We had originally planned to adopt from the humane society, but due to issues that would have arisen with our apartment managers, we opted for the more secretive pet store purchase. We came home with the bunny we fell in love with the previous week. It seems she was always mean to be with us. (Whether or not she's a she is still yet to be determined, we may just decide to never really know.)

I'm a Mommy

2011-01-19T06:30:00.001-05:00

And by mommy, I mean hamster mommy (Almost got you there didn't I? But you know me, I wouldn't be announcing something like being a real mommy over a blog anyway.).

Last week I told the Hubs I was ready for another hamster. It's been a month since our beloved and awesome Good passed away and the time had come where I needed something fuzzy and cute to love on. So last Saturday we went around to pet stores to check out their hamsters. None of them caught my eye. Part of that may be because I was comparing all of them to Goob, but something just didn't feel right. We even checked out bunnies because I just love those little guys and my first pet was one. We met a little guy who was sweet and perfect. But something still didn't feel right. After walking around pet stores and holding all sorts of little critters for three hours, we went home empty handed.

I checked out prices for rabbit cages online and decided to see what our Humane Society had to offer. I saw several rabbits there who looked like that could use a good home. So we decided that once we have enough money saved up for a cage, we're going to adopt a bunny. Coming to that decision felt great and the right thing to do, especially since that's how we want to build up our "human" family as well.

Then a funny thing happened on Sunday. A lady in our ward announced that her daughter had moved away and had left the hamster behind. The hamster needed a place to live. Guess where he ended up? With us of course! It was just meant to be!

I'm very happy and excited to be a hamster-mommy again. And as soon as we have the funds I'll be able to be a bunny mommy too.

Welcome to the family, Buford Haebi Smalls*!!

*A hamster this small requires a ridiculously long name. If any of you are familiar with "Avatar: The Last Airbender" cartoon you'll recognize the middle name that we call him by.

Morgan and Mark's Wedding

2011-01-09T21:20:00.000-05:00

As promised here are some of our favorite shots from Morgan and Mark's beautiful wedding in Washington, D.C. (we unfortunately didn't get to go to the National Mall or anything like that because of permits and whatnot but it was still such a joy to be able to take part in their special day).

(We happened upon this shot by accident. We overexposed quite a bit with the flash but found it had an interesting quality unmatched by any of the "perfect" exposure shots.)

(I think it's important for the groom to get as much face time as the bride. Because let's face it, it's his day too.)

(This was my favorite shot of the entire day...)

Thank you, Morgan and Mark, for letting us be a part of your special day! It was out first real wedding gig and we will never forget it!!

P.S. Can anyone tell which camera orientation I favor?