the lovelies that keep me up at night.

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...