the lovelies that keep me up at night.

It's funny how just a couple of little things that occur can really change my attitude. I start out trying to be really positive and end up working myself up to lofty unrealistic expectations, then turn to negative, destructive behavior when said things *magically* don't live up to those impossible ideas. What a surprise. So what do you do, then? What do you do when things, little things at that, have such power to sour a mood? When that mood changes what you're doing or were going to do? Why do I give such little things such power? When will I stop and decide to take care of me? I go from wanting to completely isolate myself from everyone and everything, to desperately wanting company and to occupy time with conversations that lead to learning about others. I find isolation comforting and terrifying at the same time. The same goes with being around others. I used to not be like this. Ever since I recently made the decision that I was going to actually process  someth...

I used to have this idea that I was going to create these elaborate and thought provoking posts. That I would inspire someone. That I would have followers. Really. Kind of silly now that I look back on it. Anymore, I just want to be a better person than I was the day before. I want to love people better. I've recently seen a lot of things in the local, national, and world news that aren't pleasant. My first reaction is to get enraged and/or feel hopeless. But time again, I keep coming back to a wise man's words: In a world where people react negatively more than they tend to think, I'll always be thankful for Dr. King's reminder that it's okay to reach out in love.

Here I am, updating you after 15 months of silence, little creature of craft. I am such a neglectful blog mom. I won't promise you I'll update often, because that usually means a longer hiatus. What I will do is try to get my latest crochet works posted, because goodness I've been making quite a few things! July is when two things usually occur: 1. I start slowly losing my focus due to the excessive heat. Here in Oklahoma the temperatures soar to quite a height. It's not a big deal to see triple digits around this time. But this area is still fairly humid, too, so imagine sitting in a hot tub fully clothed. Except you're walking around. And that water is your sweat. Not a pretty picture. Luckily it's been a mild summer here due to the insane rains and flooding that have occurred. Even now the state is still under a heat advisory in excess of 100. So a lot of time is spent swimming and trying to stay cool! Thoughts of fall float through my mind often. I...

Hey there!  I just wanted to give a little wave on here and say a huge Happy Easter to all of you in blogland.  We hiked, picnicked, and enjoyed spending time with each other: Oklahoma is gorgeous year round.  I've yet to wander all the parks in my area.  We're toying with the idea of making next Sunday a picnic Sunday, too.   I meant to post this picture a couple of weeks ago.  April 4th, as you know, marked one year that I've been on this weight loss journey.  Well, as of April 4, I'd stepped on the scales and I'd lost 50 pounds - YESSS!  I celebrated by heading to the store with my husband and..... picking out a decent visual to represent how much fifty pounds really is: Truth?  Fifty pounds is, well... HEAVY!  I struggled to get the big bag of dog food you see here in my arms - it's time to strengthen the upper arms, I guess!  Hard to believe I was carrying all that weight around on my body. ...

Well, it’s been one year. 365 days. One year ago today, I walked out of my doctor’s office scared, confused, and angry.  I had just been handed two difficult diagnoses, and felt so unsure of my next steps.  I had walked in with high expectations.  I was starting a new job which meant a move.  I’d be moving away from the city and the house we owned to a new destination, a town about two hours away where I knew no one.  Things I was aware of:  1).  We would begin the grueling task of moving all our belongings – and for two packrats, that task is daunting!  And 2) I had landed a position in education that I wanted to pursue.  This move meant leaving my husband for several weeks and living on my own.  It meant leaving our support system and friends I’ve known all my life and been in close proximity to…. for the unknown.  I knew no one in my new town.  But I decided to take a chance and try out this new adventure. ...

Do you know what's difficult, blog land?  Trying to have a blog that is made up of only  ONE kind of thing.  The reason I started this blog, for example.  I wanted to just talk about and post pictures of crochet.  Yarny yarns and hooks and patterns and projects in the making, and the finished (at last!  Finished!) projects.  Oh, I wanted to do those things, and those things only. But I'm not a machine.  A lot of my time is spent not crocheting and hanging out with yarny yarns and hooks and patterns.  I'm a human, and that means I develop new and varied interests and am curious about a wide variety of things.  And that's okay.  I will always crochet.  I love it too much to say adios.  But I've realized that having a blog dedicated to just one thing, for me, is a poor idea.  There are just too many things I like to blog about, and maybe there's a fun picture out there I want to share that doesn't fit in with crochet.....

So of course, I've managed to let a few months slip by without posting anything.  Honestly, there hasn't been a whole lot to post!  It's been a tough winter here in OK, with unusually cold bitter winds and quite a bit of snow compared to last year.  I don't mean to complain, but I will be pretty excited when spring has officially sprung!  This past weekend was daylight savings time, and while I really enjoy the extra light at the end of the day, I just hate giving up the extra 60 minutes of sleep!  I know it's only an hour, but I am dragging this morning for sure! One of my New Year's resolutions (the only one, honestly) was to complete a 5K every month.  I've been trying to attack this resolution head on.  In January I finished my first ever official timed 5K, the  Freeze Your Face-Off 5K  in downtown Oklahoma City.  It was such a great experience, and I got to meet up with a couple of high school friends I hadn't seen in over a decad...

Since April, I've been on a bit of a journey.  By "a bit of" what I really mean is a "HUGE WHOPPING CONSUMING TREK."  You see, it involves my body. Before you roll your eyes and click away, thinking, "yeah, I'm here for crafty things, not this,"  hang on a minute.  I just wanted to write a post to explain a little more about me, Lauren, the girl with the hook.  There are a few reasons why my posts have been few and far between.  Here's a big part of what's been happening the past 8 months: In April this year, I was diagnosed with some health issues, some of them likely relating to my weight at the time.  I was pretty shocked.  I mean, there I was, at 29, a gal who never took any prescription medications or was ever diagnosed with anything other than a little near-sighted action at my yearly eye appointment.  Yep, I was stunned. (on a side note:  I've been overweight my whole life.  I honestly don't have the best eating habits...

I know, I know.  It’s been too long.  I admit, I am not the world’s best at keeping up with much of anything. But I do have reasons!  I’ve been making some of these: Minion hats!  I found an absolutely wonderful little pattern on ravelry, and My goodness, people have been requesting non stop for me to make them/their kids one!  So, I’ve been hooking it up.  There are about one million more I would like to make for folks.  Alas, there don’t seem to be enough hours in my day… Another reason is that yours truly has been teaching a crochet class!  It’s offered through my work.  This all started when my office’s original instructor couldn’t teach due to a recent surgery, and since I’d  posted  a couple of pictures on facebook of my work… it got out that I know a bit about the basics of crochet.  I am a certified early childhood teacher, and I have taught at the college level, but let me tell you, I was nervo...

The long awaited day has come: I give you….. The Epic Ripple Blanket:                                                 *cue theme from 2001:  A Space Odessey*  The edging is such a brilliant design from Lucy at  the attic .  The entire tutorial and pattern of hers is what mine is based off of.  I'm so excited to have something that goes with everything!  I really, really love that edge.  The little peek-a-boos of blue coming through the purple makes me warm and fuzzy.  Ahh, soft, soft blanket friend.  The yarn is mostly Caron Simply Soft, and Red Heart Soft.  Lots of time, lots of dc, lots of dc2together, many miles of yarn. I am so happy I have finished with this project.  Don’t get me wrong.  I enjoyed every single ripple-y minute of it.  I enjoyed randomly grabbing luscious col...

So, since I finished that blanket, I've been dying to post pictures.  I worked on that thing off and on for a year.  Thanks to Lucy's awesome tutorials, I was able to figure out how to make some ripple-y goodness, and from there it just took off.  Now, I don't have the mad color matching skills that she does (or that most humans probably do).  I tend to just fluuuuuergh my colors everywhere, randomly.  I knew this blanket was going to be for me (and maybe my husband, if I decide to be nice and share.... :), and I never can decide on what colors I want to use.  Funny how that works - I can picture in my mind the perfect colors for a friend or family member, or a new design that I want to try and create.  But when it comes to me - well, I just love everything.  I want to use everything.  That's exactly what I did with this blanket.  And I've got to tell you - I LOVE the results.  I don't have any good pictures to post.  Unfort...

I can't tell you the last time I've posted something on here.  I just clicked on the "new blog post" without really even looking.  So hello again to my few viewers, thanks for stopping by.  It's been a busy few weeks moving things, traveling back and forth to finish packing our house and getting it ready to put on the market.  It's been a few weeks that I've taken a bit of a break from creating.  I think I'm ready to go back.  Here's what I was up to: I've been getting to know the neighbors.   Where we lived before, sure, there was a bit of wildlife here and there.  But nothing like what I get to see from my living room window now.  Our little apartment faces a courtyard, and there are some beautiful creatures I’ve spotted.  Blue jays, ducks, and quite possibly our favorite – squirrels.  The squirrels at our home in the city are brown colored and incredibly skittish.  Rightfully so, since they seemed to enjoy ...

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.  ~ Helen Keller, American educator There are so many beautiful things in the world.  There are so many wonderful creations to see, explore, touch, and wonder.  Do you notice them?  I have made it a point in my daily walks to notice more about the world around me.  Beautiful places. Here is a very, very small sample of what I encounter on a daily basis.  I try to really appreciate it all. Solitude. The smell of honeysuckle makes my life instantly positive. A small pond through the branches. Sometimes this isn't easy to do.  When I have a negative encounter with people, when I feel snubbed by those I love, when my mind simply won't let me s.l.o.w. d.o.w.n. enough to enjoy - all these things make it difficult to see this amazing world for what it is.  But I try.  While all these people and situations exist, there are others who exist who ad...

Good morning, friends (even if it is only myself who reads this.   I’m still a pretty decent friend to myself, I must say… ;) It’s been a bit of a crazy past two weeks in Oklahomaland.   I am constantly amazed at what this weather does.   For example, the early afternoon, was sweet and nice, like this:   Now, exactly one week ago, it was not.   It didn’t look too ominous heading from our new home in the grasslands to our old home in the city:   The nice lady at the tollbooth asked us where we were going.   When we said “Oklahoma City” she replied “do you kids realize what’s about to happen there?”   While we had our weather radio on and were aware, I didn’t honestly think things would hit close to us.   Surely it would dissipate before it got to Oklahoma City, right?   But as we were driving into capital city, we realized otherwise.   We rolled into downtown OKC with tornado sirens going off and meteorologi...