New Project

Knitting...

I started with scarves - flat rectangles...

Then hats - circles, basic increases...

Then the bunting - more advanced increases, basic finishing, basic shaping...

Now I'm ready for the big time... Okay, not really. But, I am doing my biggest project to date. Hold on to your pants, folks...

I started this sweater/shrug last night.

Okay, so it's kinda hard to tell it's the same thing, but I just started, so cut me a little slack. It's fat yarn on fat needles, so it should come together pretty quick. I'm hoping to be done with the back by the end of the week.

I know everyone will be on pins and needles (haha... needles, get it?) until I update on my progress, but try to contain yourselves (or self, since my mama's probably the only one who ever checks this crazy thing anymore).

And I promise to update about some aspect of my life other than bread and yarn very soon :)

Yay! I'm done!

I spent the weekend finishing the bunting. Apparently I did not know the proper way to sew on buttons (thanks, Amanda) so I had to undo and redo those. And I get quite "constipated" in my knitting, so the button bands were curvy and I had to block those to get them mostly straight.

But, it's done and all in all, not too bad. Can't you just see a little squishy baby in it!

I brought it to work today and everyone thought it was adorable. One of my coworkers even offered to pay me for one. I didn't think it was that good, but I do appreciate the complement.

On to the next project!

Wheat Bread

I took another shot at wheat bread. It was gag-nasty. Amanda ate some of it, said it tasted like beer, and tried her best to make me feel better about it, but it was really terrible. It never rose properly and was really dark and had a nasty sour taste to it. The yeast was fine, butter was fine, milk was fine, flour was fine... all together, so not fine. The only thing we can figure is that the oats caused some trouble. I tried to add some oats to the whole wheat recipe I used last time. I figured the apple-cinnamon-granola bread turned out fine with oats instead of granola, so why not just add some oats to the whole wheat recipe. Bad idea.

I think next time I'm going to take the white recipe that worked so well and substitute some wheat flour in place of some of the white flour. Maybe that will work. If not, we could always use a few extra doorstops, I guess.

Baby Bunting!

My boss announced a while ago that she is expecting. I found this really adorable baby bunting bag that I want to make for her. She's not due until February, but the pattern is so cute I can't wait til then, so I started one for my friend from back home. She is due in November. Here I've finished the body...

Sorry it's sideways and not super clear. My camera is acting funny, so I took this on my phone.

Bread continued...

The apple-cinnamon-granola bread is really good. I made two loaves. One with granola, the other with regular old fashione oats. I think I like the oats better than the oatmeal. And I made honey butter to slather on it. Divine! Here's a link to the recipe if you're interested... apple-cinnamon-granola bread.

The wheat, not so great. It didn't rise well, but wheat bread doesn't rise as much as white because of gluten, bran, blah, blah, blah. It tasted fine, but I'm going to have to play with it to get it just how I want it. Science + cooking = happy Becky!

More Bread

I pulled quite a few bread recipes from the internet. This weekend I'm going to try a whole wheat bread and an apple-cinnamon-granola bread. I'll let you know what happens...

Brother Yun

I am so excited I had to share right away!

This morning on Moody radio, they were discussing persecution in the church, specifically in China. A man was talking about his organization Act3, and how they are working to raise awareness of the persecuted. His life was greatly impacted by exiled Chinese Christian Brother Yun, author of Heavenly Man. Bro. Yun has written another book, Living Water and is on a US speaking tour. Act3 is sponsoring his visits to the Chicagoland area... THIS WEEKEND!

I spent the rest of my drive repeating act3online.com, act3online.com, act3online.com, because I just had to look up these speaking engagements. You see, Shelly ShellFish let me borrow her copy of Heavenly Man more than a year ago. It was so challenging and inspiring. It was one of those books that I couldn't put down, totally absorbed every word, and still remember the details. The opportunity to see and hear this amazing man of God in person is something I just could not pass up. And it's free! I emailed ShellFish as soon as I found the info and WE'RE GOING! Yippee!

If anyone wants to join us, let me know. If you want your faith to be challenged, read the book.

Mmmm... Bread

So I've started baking my own bread. I decided to start with a simple basic white loaf recipe and wow, it is good!

I made a grilled cheese sandwich... I may never buy bread again.

Why do they only have crappy templates on here? This is the best I could come up with and I'm not so sure about it. I'm not techy enough to come up with my own. What's a girl to do? Perhaps I'll move over to wordpress...

80's Night

That Betty! What are we going to do with her? She and Ray hosted an 80's night. I must admit, I was a little unsure, seeing as I experienced most of the 80's through the lens of Sesame Street, but it was really a blast.
And even though I knew, like maybe 3 songs, I must say, I thought my outfit turned out pretty great! Too bad I didn't get a full shot of me or Amanda (who did live through and vividly remembers the 80's), but a head shot is better than nothing.

Hmmm... you can't really see my awesome bow.

You can see all the pix here if you want.

If I could've brought her home...

This is my friend Laura...

At the lunch we served, I was standing in the back waiting to see what still needed to be done and here she comes. She just toddled up to me and made the universal baby "pick me up" sign - arms outstreched high overhead. So, I picked her up. I mean, when have I ever refused to hold a little one? Well, that settled it, she was mine! I gave her away long enough to play La Simona Dice (Simon Says) and then she was back.

Later, one of the little boys was sick and crying, so I tried to hold him and she got very upset with me. We finally managed this arrangement and she seemed okay, unless I tried to move.

A couple days later, we went to Rahab's monthly service with the women. While the choir was singing, one of the workers came rushing upstairs to get help with the kids. Since I'm not in the choir, they sent me down. As soon as I got there, one of the interns turned around and handed me Laura!

Later, when we talked with the women in small groups, I was in the group with both of their mothers. It was beautiful to hear their stories and understand a little more about the lives of these precious babies. And of course wonderful to see my sweet Laura again!

More on the little guy in another post...

Costa Rica Pix

I have finally put my Costa Rica Pix in a web album. No captions or editing as of yet. That will come later... maybe.

My camera only made half the trip, but that still ended up being 181 pictures.

Anyway, you can go here to see them.

Cake Wrecks

Oh my goodness. This is the funniest blog I have looked at in a long time. Either that, or I'm in desperate need of some comic relief in my life. Eh, either way, it's pretty darn funny!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Costa Rica

Love...

I have fallen in love. Not for the first time, mind you, but fallen in love again... in love with the Lord, with his word, his people, his call to go, all of it. It's easy in our comfortable society to become, well, comfortable. But the Lord has renewed my first love...

This week I returned from a trip to Costa Rica, where I spent a few days working with the Rahab Foundation, a ministry to prostitutes in San Jose. They help sex workers see that they are loved and worthy of love. They help them get education and vocational training and find jobs. The staff at Rahab live and work like Jesus did - in the darkness, with the "sinners", the fatherless, the widow, the oppressed.

It was beautiful, intense, heart-breaking... and I'm once again in deep love.

I quit!

So, if you haven't assumed by now, it's official... I quit. Not blogging completely, but the picture a day thing. It was too stressful! I made it 6 months, and it took my 2 months to finally confess that I'm quitting.

Maybe now that I don't have the stress of a picture every single day, I'll be more inclined to actually blog things... maybe, maybe not!

Hi. I just want to let the faithful few who are still brave enough to venture into my corner of the blogging world know that I have come to the conclusion that I am in fact the world's worst blogger! I have plenty of pictures, they just don't seem to make it onto the blog. Maybe I can post them without any descriptions and you can come up with your own captions. Hmmm... that could be fun...

Ok, let's see if I can get some pictures up before my parents get here this weekend. Yippee for parents!

FYI...

I got the video of Jonathan singing the Lion Song to work (May 3).

May 14

One of Amanda's coworkers let her borrow the documentary Born Into Brothels. I highly recommend this film. It's not at all what I was told it was, but much better.

Take some time to check out the website Kids With Cameras. You can also download and watch the film for free at FreeDocumentaries.org.

May 13

I had dinner with Diane tonight and I'll be switched if I didn't forget to take a picture again! I have yet to remember to take a picture when we get together.

May 12

I didn't do anything picture worthy today, nothing at all. So here's my dinner... quinoa, butternut squash and chicken, with honey and spices. Tasted better and looks better than the last dinner I posted.

May 11

Amanda's parents came to town for Mother's Day. I thought it was quite unfair that her parents came here and Ashley went home and I got to do neither!

After church we went to Pannenkoeken Cafe in Lincoln Square.

May 10

The Ladies' Concert of Praise was tonight. What a lovely time we had worshipping the Lord together. There was quite a turn-out; it looked like the sanctuary was pretty full. And I met some new people, several of whom have been attending the church for a while, but since I'm with the kids before and after every service, I often miss the new people. I should work on that. Hmm... maybe I should have used the opportunity for a little recruiting!

Jasmine, Pamela, and Kathy

May 9

Scary. That dude is way too high. And he's not on any sort of scaffolding. He's sitting on a board. A BOARD! What is he thinking? As Amanda would say... LIABILITY!

May 8

I love tulips.

May 7

I went to Pamela's new place Restoration Salon and who should come in while I'm sitting in her chair?

The newly engaged Jonathan and Maria-Elena!

Congratulations!!!

May 6

Yes, the highlight of my day was buying footies... sad, but true.

May 5

I thought I was getting one of those really terrible migraines that make my vision go all crazy and keep me in bed forever...

Nope just a stupid, jacked up car determined to drive me crazy all the way home. I was behind this monstrosity from the time I got off Lake Shore Drive all the way to Rockwell. What kind of sick person can tolerate such nonsense?

May 4

I finished my most recent knitting project last week, which I can't talk about because it's a gift for someone...

So, I needed a new project.

This is my needle case. Interesting choice, since I only have one pair of needles and usually just steal Amanda's. It is felted, which basically means you wash and shrink it, kind of like when you accidentally wash and dry a wool sweater and it comes out big enough for a baby. So I have to make it 20" x 30" which is quite large... this is going to take a while.

May 3

Jonathan and David had some people over to celebrate some of the May birthdays...

Birthday girls Pamela, Jennifer, Jenn, & Amanda

I put all of the pictures on a web album you can see here... Happy Birthday!

Jonathan and Megan graced us with their musicality! I took a quick video of Jonathan's Lion Song (not sure what the real name is). I haven't been able to make it work yet, but I'll keep trying.

May 2

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yummy dinner at Pizza DOC, then choir practice... my first one back! Oh wait, choir was cancelled. So home again to continue the celebration!

A moment to wax rhapsodic... I know Amanda never reads my blog, but I cannot say enough how much of a blessing she has been to me over the past year+ that I have known her. The Lord definitely placed her in my life at a specific time for a specific reason and I am so blessed to call her my sister and my friend! I feel very honored to celebrate her life with her today. By chance, this is also a 2 year celebration of her new life in Christ! Praise the Lord! God has done so much in her in such a short time and I am often amazed at the Lord's continued work in her life, which I see evidence of so frequently.

May 1

My seminar ended tonight, so Mama and Daddy came down to see me. We ate at Pitty Pat's Porch, southern dining at it's finest.

Then we drove the two hours home. John-Paul was in town for class, so I got to see him, too.

Hello Tim and Debbie 25 years ago!

Me and my big little baby...

Me and my big big baby!

April 30

My sessions didn't start until the afternoon, so I had all morning to wander around downtown. My hotel was just a couple blocks from Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium and the New World of Coke. My grandparents used to live in Atlanta so whenever John-Paul and I would go visit, Mamu would take us all over the place. We used to love going to Coke and Underground, and I haven't been since at least high school, so I thought I would take advantage of my free morning. I was sorely displeased!

Old Coke ~ garish and loud, like any self respecting tourist spot should be...


New Coke ~ sophisticated and boring, what a letdown!

At least they saved the sign. But it isn't anywhere near the New World of Coke, it's over by Underground. Ooh, and I got an Orange Julius while I was at underground... so yummy!

April 29

I flew to Atlanta for work today. Praise the Lord for the South! So, I get to my hotel (which by the way did not have wifi! Seriously?!) and this is what I see...

Who knew Chicago was only an escalator ride away? I could have saved all that money on plane tickets...

April 27

We had a meeting for the Costa Rica trip this afternoon. We paid our deposits and put in our applications, so I guess we're officially on our way.

Heidi, Amanda, and Ashley with their trip packets.

By the way, if anyone needs something to do with some extra money...

April 26

We hosted a knitting party at our place today. Of course I forgot to take pictures until just as everyone was leaving. I grabbed my camera real quick and got this one shot and then the battery died... DRAT!

Jasmine finished this scarf for Josiah. He doesn't look so sure about it...