Thirty Seven Oh Five

Snowfall

2016-12-11T13:50:00.004-06:00

Well..... 2016 is almost over and I haven't posted since January. In my last post I said I wasn't sure if I was sad to see 2015 go or not. I can say for sure this year: I can't wait until 2016 is over and gone! I know December 31st and January 1st aren't really that different (except for one day you may have a hangover, the other you may not), but in my mind the new year is just that: NEW! And full of promise of good things to come as long as you work hard and open yourself up to them. 2016 was a year of change, and a year of good and bad. But I don't want to dwell on that! It is still early(ish) December and the joy of Christmas is still ahead!

Yesterday began the first real snowstorm of the year. We had one before but it was the slushy type that melted as soon as you stepped on it and was gone by the next morning. But today? SNOW! I woke up at 3:37 am and fully intended to go back to bed....but I could only lay there and think of all the things I wanted to do today! Now 3:37am might seem early to some, but I wake up at 3am a lot for work so even though I wanted to sleep until at least 5:30....it still wasn't super early for me. I am more of a morning person anyway. Mornings are kind of like the new year for me in a way; no matter if you are awake early or late, it is going to be dark, but the morning still has the promise of a good day ahead of it...As I sit here typing I can hear my neighbor pulling out his snowmobile for the first time this year. Another good thing about my morning habits is that I am always awake before the rest of the world it seems. Nothing but me, nature, and the quiet.

I waited until I thought it would be light enough for some decent pictures before I bundled up and went outside. It was lovely. Maybe I will head out later too. It has been snowing slowly all day; no blizzard here, but a soft, consistent snow.

Welcome 2016

2016-01-01T18:10:00.001-06:00

2015 was a year of cheers and tears. After thinking about it all day yesterday and today....I am not sure if I am glad or sad to see it go. So I am settling on not thinking about last year too much and instead focusing on what I hope to accomplish this year instead!

I have been dreadfully sick this past week (and had to use two cherished days of PTO to lay like a lump in bed) and chose to pass on offers from friends and family for New Year's Eve plans and instead went to bed embarrassingly early, slept for about 11 hours, and then abused the hell out of cough medication and nasal spray to get myself to a functioning enough state for a First Day Hike in the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

I love being outside. I feel like nothing is better for the soul (or your mental health for that matter) than being outside. I felt better almost immediately! Granted now that I am writing this the cold medication has all worn off and I am back to where I was last night when I was reduced to sharing a rotisserie chicken with my cat while sitting on my couch and feeling sorry for myself while everyone else was out having fun....but that was cold-induced so the end is in sight for that bit of misery at least. Overall I can't think of a better way to start the year!

Random moments of being thankful

2014-12-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

Big changes are coming to my life in 2015. After 5 years of working second shift in the lab, I am finally moving to day shift! Technically, I have already started working a few day shifts, but I will have no more second shifts at all starting January 3rd. It is something I have been longing for ever since I started working at the hospital. I am already finding that while it took me almost two whole years to get used to 2nd shift, after only one week I am already used to being a morning person again (hello 4am). While I am very tired lately and slightly bummed that I am not feeling too ambitious this year for Christmas stuff, I know that things will all settle out soon and I will be used to it again. The going back and forth between the two shifts is confusing my body a little right now.

Today my sister and I had a cookie-making day. Lots of laughs and lots of mess, as usual. When I took the dog out for a bathroom break I brought my camera out with us. I love cold and grey days. The starkness of it always struck me as beautiful somehow. While out tromping through the long grass by the train tracks I was suddenly stuck with how glad I was that my mom and sister lived in such a place. It isn't the country at all, not nearly as far out as I want to be, but there is more space and more fields than many other people have, especially when they are renting, like my mom and sister are.

Part of the reason I am thankful is also because, up in that last picture, behind those trees, is our old house. It is the house I lived for most of my life. It is the house we lost when my dad died. It is hard and it hurts, and I have not actually driven on that road in over two years and hope to never have to again, and I am glad I can't see the house, and when I am feeling beaten down and at my worst, my thoughts are, "I want to go home." Even though I am an adult and my dad is gone and nobody can ever go back in time, part of me will always think of that place and those days as "home." And I am thankful because even though we lost so much and have gone through a lot, I can sill look around and see how much I still have. It is so easy to get wrapped up in one's own hurt and forget that there are others out there that are hurting even worse. It doesn't take away your own pain, but I think it makes you so much more grateful for what you DO have.

It was but a moment, but it struck me greatly, and I am glad for what I do have today, in this life.

I try to take a page from Kira's book: no matter what, when you are with the pack and can run around outside, life is good.

Old World Wisconsin

2014-10-13T10:15:00.001-05:00

Now, anybody who knows me will know that despite my desire to travel and my aching urge to see the west (well, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Colorado, the south west, and the "nature-y" parts of Oregon and Washington, sorry California), I will loudly and proudly declare that Wisconsin is the best state in the nation, and thus the greatest place in the entire world (and all this even though it is only family that keeps me in my city...). We have rolling farmlands; dark, dense North Woods (always gets a capitol N and W in my mind); water everywhere, from the big ole' Lake Michigan to tons of beautiful inland lakes of all sizes; cows everywhere, providing me with my life blood: milk and cheese; and beer. Our cities are pretty great too I guess, but I am in love with nature, so that is what determines to me if a place is awesome or not!

Anybody who knows me also knows that history is my great passion. Therefore it is amazing that I have not been to Old World Wisconsin since I was in grade school. We won't even get into how long that really is...

Old World Wisconsin is an open air museum and a Wisconsin historic site. It is made up of old houses, buildings, and farmsteads that were moved from their originals spots from all over Wisconsin for preservation and to re-enact the sights and sounds of the history of this great state. Wisconsin had many different ethnic groups settle it, but the Germans were by far the most numerous. Hence all the great breweries this state has (and why people from Illinois are always driving up here to by beer...we just do it better here). But there were also large Scandinavian groups too. I myself am of German and Norwegian decent, so I liked those areas the best, although all the areas were very cool. We actually didn't make it to all the parts because the site was closing early that day to prepare for a Halloween event going on that evening (which we were sadly unable to attended do to previous plans...AKA rushing home to feed and let out pets and plans to grill out), me taking too long to take pictures, and rumbling tummies. Many stops to pet animals and a quick dig for potatoes at the German village also contributed. While me, my sister and her boyfriend are all technically adults, we get grouchy like little children when not feed regularly!

YANKEE VILLAGE

GERMAN AREA

NORWEGIAN AREA

FINNISH AREA

Fall at Hawthorn Hollow

2014-10-10T20:36:00.002-05:00

On of my favorite places is a local nature sanctuary and arboretum called Hawthorn Hollow. An old co-worker told me about it about four years ago and I was so surprised that I had driven past the place as many times as I have without even knowing it was there! I am always amazed at how much cool stuff there is locally that I don't even know about. Sometimes being a tourist in your own state, and even your own city, is just as amazing as a trip somewhere farther away.

Today I was playing taxi for my sister since her car is in the shop, and while she was in a "business meeting" (aka she is a marketing major so her school projects are basically free work for local businesses) I decided to skip just sitting in the car with a book and instead use the time to check out the fall foliage. With the exception of a school trip on my way out, I had the place to myself. While I was walking it was very peaceful, but when down to work on my current crochet project, I was amused by how loud all the the squirrels and chipmunks were after they got used to my presence.

Hawthorn Hollow closes December 24th to March 1, but I am hoping for a few more fall walks...and a couple of good snows to try my hand at snow shoeing this year. Luckily Hawthorn Hollow is also located right across the road from Pets, aka Petrifying Springs, a great county park. They are open year round and have even more hiking trails.

nine bags to sew

2014-01-10T10:23:00.002-06:00

1. Go Anywhere bag // from Noodlehead
2. Pleated, lined handbag // from Warehouse Fabrics Inc.
3. Buttercup bag // from Made By Rae
4. Messenger bag // from no time to sew
5. 241 tote // from Noodlehead
6. Braided Belt messenger bag // from Cold Hands Warm Heart
7. Two Tone fabric totes // from Make It and Love It
8. Phoebe bag // from artsy-crafty babe
9. Cargo Duffle Pattern for Robert Kaufman // from Noodlehead

I love bags. I put everything in bags. I put my bags in bags. I also love to sew. I do it very rarely and I am not very good at it at all. But practice makes perfect (or so they say....) so this year I would really like to sew more and practice those skills! These are nine bags that I really like and would love to try my hand at. If you couldn't tell, I am also really fond of Anna's designs (Noodlehead).

One of the reasons I don't sew very much is because, as I said, I am not very good at it and I find it disappointing and discouraging to finish a project, step back, take a look, and find it uneven or lumpy with crooked seams and hemlines. But every new bag is a chance at practice and a project you will be happy with, so I am going to try sewing all these so that by this time next year every project I pick up I can sew with the confidence that when I step back to take that look I will be pleased with what I see.

nine things to knit

2014-01-05T17:00:00.001-06:00

1. paulie by Isabell Kraemer (photo © Isabell Kraemer)
2. Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang (photo © AnAbundanceOfLisa)
3. Bears Rainbow Blanket by Purl Soho (photo © Purl Soho)
4. Mystery + Manners by SpillyJane (photo © SpillyJane)
5. Podster Gloves by Glenna C. (photo © Glenna C.)
6. Camp Out Fingerless Mitts by tante ehm (photo © kararstanley)
7. Emmanuelle Sweater by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark (photo © Knitscene/Harper Point)
8. First Snow Mittens by Aet Terasmaa (photo © Aet Terasmaa)
9. Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer (photo © Carina Spencer)

I admit, I tend to drift towards mittens. I still wear the pair I made five years ago pretty religiously (except for that one winter two years ago when I thought I lost them!), so it is kind of odd for me to make so many. But I just love them! I love the process of knitting mittens and I also know that I will wear them when I am done because they always turn out. Not to mention, I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love a pair of homemade mittens as a gift.

This year I want to do more sweaters. And failing that, at least one. I am just terrified I will spend the money and dedicate the time and in the end I will produce something that doesn't fit and looks awful. But then again...

2014-01-03T15:06:00.000-06:00

Today is actually my first day off in the new year, which is kind of fun because although I worked the 1st and 2nd, I now have a three day weekend to enjoy! I thought that today I would share some of the things I hope to do in 2014.

I got the Kinfolk cookbook for Christmas and I hope to try most, if not all, of the recipes in it this year. I like the recipes that I have found in Kinfolk because they always make me try something new. Just flipping through the book I have seen some ingredients called for that I would probably never have tried on my own. I try to make a new recipe at least once a week, although this seems to happen more in the summer than in the winter...Probably because I am less likely to want to go out in the cold for any ingredients I don't already have. I will be sure to share and let you know which recipes make it onto my 'will make again' list!

Knitting, knitting, knitting. Something I dearly love but...I...am....so...slow...at. Mostly, I think, because I tend to jump around a lot with projects. I also plan to finish and actually wear a sweater this year. I will! I must! I want to share my progress and projects because I find that a lot of the patterns I end up really liking and want to use are ones that I have seen on other blogs. I think there is always something inspiring about seeing the finished work of something someone took the time to make with their hands. I love Ravelry and it is my go to for finding patterns when I have something specific in mind, but sometimes it's the projects I stumble randomly upon that I like the most.

And finally, there is the pile of books I hope to make it through in the first part of the year... not to mention all the books I have waiting on my Nook!

I think I struggle with having so much I want to do that I overwhelm myself and end up doing nothing. I forget what book it was in, one of the classics I know that, but one of the characters divided up her entire day... from 10-11 embroidery, from 11-12 knitting, from 12-1 lunch... that is not, of course, her exact schedule but I think you get the point. Perhaps I should try that??

Hello to a new friend: 2014

2014-01-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

I am one of those people who is always a bit melancholy around the new year... I am always feeling disappointment over the things I had wanted to do and never got done, sadness the the pure and simple joy of the Christmas season is over, and, being the nostalgic person I am, the bitter-sweetness of all the things that have happened that would now be nothing more than memories of "a better time." I have to constantly remind myself that it is a case of "the grass isn't always greener."

That is why I am going into the new year with the thought firmly in place that there is nothing to be sad and wistful about! 2014 is going to be so awesome it will be like meeting a new person who becomes an amazing friend!

The year dawned grey and snowy... My favorite kind of weather for the long, cold, Wisconsin winters!

I already have plenty of plans and ideas and hopes for the new year, so here is just a sort list of my New Years Resolutions:

1. Do more! And by that I mean actually make some of those bookmarked crafts and recipes; get out there and learn my camera better and take all those photos I wish I was!
2. Read more books and spend less time on the internet. I read a lot as it is, but with all the time I spend just clicking around imagine what more I could actually read! Last year was a little light on the nonfiction, so I want to remedy that too!
3. Take more pictures
4. Be more organized
5. Work harder at maintaining friendships, something I have been bad with since high school.
6. Finish getting my "dream body." 2013 was a great year for that, and this year I am going to finish what I started!
7. Spend less money!! So I can buy that dream house out in the country.... ok so that is a dream that is still many, many, MANY years off, but starting now is always good!
8. Complain less about work. Face it, a job is a job... Go in with a smile, do your job, and go home with some money in your pocket to do all those things you actually want to enjoy!!!

Sophia Mittens by Half

2012-09-14T22:09:00.003-05:00

Actually, it is a little more than by half. The second mitten is almost half done itself. Things got a little crazy and absolutely no progress was made (which I find understandable for once), but with the weather getting colder and a promise to a sweet cousin yet unfulfilled I figured I had better get my hands a moving. Not to mention that I may have already promised my best friend a pair too.... and I lost one of my own mittens last year so now I need another for myself.... No matter how many projects I want to start, I just can't seem to escape mittens!!

The thing that made me smile the most today was this, though:

I made one of her kits last year and had so much fun with it that I think I am going to make it a yearly tradition! I hope to get my mom and my sister in on it too. I am excited for it to come in the mail, but then the hard part starts: I refuse to start any Christmas crafting until after Thanksgiving!

~Alison

Dad.

2012-09-11T23:16:00.003-05:00

On September 9, 2012 my dad took his life. Despite being surrounded by a huge family who loved and cared for him deeply, we were unable to help him fight the internal battles he was having with himself daily, or alleviate the huge amount of pain he was living in and had been living for a majority of his life.

Despite being hurt by the fact that he left us, my love for my father is strong, enduring, and unending. I know that many people claim that they have the best father, but I truly believe that I in fact, have the best father who has ever graced God's green earth. He loved us and took care of use and always put us first until the very end.

There is always going to be a hole in my heart from his loss, but I will strive daily to fill it with love for him, the rest of my family, and by living the live I know he would want me to live.

My cousin spoke to me about memorializing him, not necessarily with a stone with his name carved in it, but by continuing on the little traditions he always had, like making "chicken legs" out of drink straw wrappers, and many other things.

I always used to speak to my dad about how I wished I could have one of those "cool crafty blogs that everyone went to and was inspired by." I thought it was so cool how someone could, for example, come up with a cool ornament idea that everyone would love, and would in turn inspire a new idea and then a new idea, etc. I always wanted to be a part of something so creative like that. The feeling of community that craft blogs seem to have is truly inspiring! But I always let my own fear hold me back, and I think it even stunted my creativity a bit.

But my dad always praised anything I made, wither it was silly looking, a complete failure, or not. He was always there to cut wood or metal or PVC for whatever half-cocked idea I had floating around in my head.

So from this day forth I am going to spend less time looking at all the other amazing things that other people are making, and start trying to make some amazing things of my own and live the life my dad wanted me to live. This blog and all the silly, crazy, or even awesome things I come up with, will be my memorial to him. Plus it will be a space to show off how awesome of a dad I have when I get to talk about him :)

Growing a Green Tumb

2012-04-12T11:01:00.003-05:00

To start, my gardening skills are a bit spotty. Sometimes stuff grows, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it is growing and looks great! Then I get home from work and it doesn't look so great anymore and I am left scratching my head.

This year I began planting indoor herbs early. Last year was a good year, but this year? Not so much. Maybe I am doing something wrong? Maybe it is too cold for the warmth loving basil? Maybe the new planters I bought to make my room look nicer are too small???? I have no idea, truly.

So I am trying again. This time I am adding Earthworm Castings for fertilizer. A family friend recently bought a business that produces this stuff, which is, basically, worm poop. But it is like black gold when it comes to gardening. My mom recently started using it and her plants look great. My mom and I actually work there on the weekends. Since it is a family friend and they just started, I work for fertilizer, rather than money! It is a lot of hard work but even more fun. So here is hoping the worm poop works!

I also am trying a grow light for the seeds. Hopefully it will produce stronger plants, since I read that plants will grow tall and spindly if they have to reach for a light.

So hopefully my basil will start to grow! I like growing stuff from seeds because it is cheaper and I feel so very accomplished when they grow. But if worse comes to worst, I will have to by a started plant when they start showing up at the gardening stores.

To make myself feel better about this whole thing, I bought two Ivy plants that will hopefully grow! The guy at the store told me they were non-toxic to cats, but, surprise surprise, when I checked the ASPCA website, they were listed as toxic. Story of my life. Oh well, it has been two days and he hasn't even noticed them.

Tombstones and Lemonade

2011-07-12T12:25:00.000-05:00

So far this has been a busy, but fun, summer around here. Recently my sister and I hopped in the car and started driving. Our goal was to check out some of the farms west of I-94 and take some pictures. However, we became distracted. We are both into the gothic and macabre (a product of growing up on a steady diet of scary movies and books thanks to older cousins), so of course when we passed an old cemetery we stopped there. It is always fun to see old tombstones and wonder about the lives the people led.

After we got home I decided that some strawberry lemonade was in order.

Strawberry Lemonade
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Juice from 4-6 lemons
6 Strawberries
4-6 cups cold water

Mix 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in small saucepan. Smash up the strawberries with a fork and add to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves completely. Let cool completely.

Mix the strawberry simple syrup with the juice from 4-6 lemons and stir well. Strain mixture into a pitcher. Add 4 cups cold. At this point I like to taste it to see how sweet it is, and ass more water to taste. I don't like it too sweet so I usually end up adding about two more cups of water.

Thinking about school

2011-03-26T17:01:00.004-06:00

I am 25 years old. I graduated in 2009 from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with a BS in Clinical Laboratory Sciences - Medical Technology. Technically, it was what I went to school for. That, though, is only because all my interests didn't seem like they had well paying jobs waiting for me at the end. While I am glad that I took the path I did (I like quite comfortably and can fully support myself), it never really was what I liked or ever dreamed about doing.

Now, however, I am thinking about going back to school. This time I am looking at MIAD, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. It is very intimidating, though. Not only because they are pretty selective, but also because while I have a huge interest and passion about art, I feel that I am not very good at it. Of course my own doubts are not going to stop me. The only things that are going to stop me from trying are possibly the money issue (I have lots of loans from my first go-round with school) or time, since I am not in a position to be able to scale back my hours at work (see previously mentioned school loan!)

So I am going to spend this spring working on my portfolio and taking to some school advisers about my options. Hopefully that will mean lots of reasons to be artsy and I will have more stuff to share here!

In terms of sewing news, I have decided to go with Very Easy Vogue V8495; one of the patterns I mentioned in my last post. It looked pretty easy! I only have one more pattern piece to cut out, and then I get to start cutting fabric. Hopefully I will be awake enough tonight when I get home from work to work on it a little.

I also have a confession to make. I am obsessed with underwear. Bras, panties, lingerie, I love it all. Perhaps it is because it makes me feel feminine and sexy. Who knows. All I know is that as soon as I am done with that shirt, any extra fabic is going to McCall's 6128 (view E, the black and white one):

I bought some stretch lace the is frilly for a more girly look, and I also bought a stencil and some paint by Simply Screen to try out as well. If that goes well there will be no end to my underwear making!

My head is so full of ideas. Too bad there always seems to be too little time and money to get them all out into the world!

Sewing Failure 001

2011-03-20T20:20:00.006-06:00

I had to use the number 001 because I am sure that my number of sewing mistakes will easily number into the hundreds. I am probably even being generous with that estimate.

I have never sewn clothes before. Well, I have sewn an apron that I am very proud of and I have sewn a Halloween costume for my sister, but that had a lot of flaws in it. So of course, when I begin to sew "real" clothes, aka clothes I actually plan to wear, I of course start with shiny, slippery material and a pattern that doesn't say 'easy' on it. Granted I am sure the pattern doesn't matter as much as much as my fabric choice, but considering I have basically no sewing experience I figure an easy pattern would have been a better place to start.

I choose Simplicity 2283 for my pattern because I really like the slouchy/cowly front it has going on. Plus I liked the yoke detail. I was going to sew option A.

The fabric I picked was in the dance and swimwear section at JoAnn's. It was stretchy and shiny and I figured it would make a good going out shirt. Probably not the best option.

So I have decided to put away that project for now and work on an "easy" pattern with some plain old non-slippery jersey knit. I have been thinking about the following two patterns:

Very Easy Vogue V8581

Very Easy Vogue V8495

I already have the fabric bought. So now I just need to gather the willpower to try try again. I had a four day weekend, so I was hoping to head back to work with something that at least resembled a shirt, but I guess I will have to hope for better luck next time. Perhaps I will begin tomorrow!

Fashion I Can Afford

2011-03-09T10:35:00.004-06:00

Recently I have found a couple of discount fashion sites through Facebook. I contained myself and did not begin screaming because I always try to be considerate of my neighbors. My co-workers are always telling me I have champagne taste on a beer budget. They are not completely wrong, but I think it would at least be the expensive imported beer I can afford. I am not rich by any means (I play the lotto with my dad to help make that dream come true), but I am fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to live comfortably with some room to play with now and again.

There are four sites in particular that I have been looking at. My favorite site, so far, is Ideeli.com. Granted this is based solely on items and price, as I have not Ordered anything yet. I will admit it, I only found this site the day before, but obsession hits hard and fast when it comes to me and clothes.

There are two items that I have been lusting over this morning:

YOUNG FABULOUS & BROKE : Black Zora Top

LAILA : Shimmer Dress

I just went shopping this past weekend, though. So despite the good prices on pieces I absolutely love, I am going to have to say no. Especially since I am buying a new pair of glasses; something which I have needed/wanted for longer than I care to admit.

Tomorrow is my day off. In between hanging out with my sister, getting sushi with my cousin and his girlfriend, and going out to a black tie party with a friend from work I hope to find some time to make some place-mats. I have some great fabric that I think would look really good. Plus I haven't sewn anything for a while and I am getting the itch.

What I Did Today.

2010-08-23T23:11:00.000-05:00

I made sure that one of my days off was spent almost entirely crafting (with a lot of CSI:NY in the background, of course, and a break to go see a movie with my mom). I feel like I got a lot done. To bad my wash is still not done. Sacrifices must be made I guess.

I woke up feeling like I needed some new magnets. The truth is I have been wanting to do this for a year but for some reason I have just never gotten around to it! :)

Then I decided to make some basil-cucumber tea. I got the idea from Design*Sponge. I must admit, but I was surprised by how much I like it. It has a very refreshing and crisp taste. I am just sad I waited so long to try it; sun tea season is almost over.

Tomorrow I will glue the magnets on the back of these to actually make them magnets. I guess I made a good choice with paper because Churchill seems to approve. But then again anything he can knock off a counter he seems to like.

I think there will be more of the same tomorrow, this time with some food and friends thrown in to help celebrate my 25th birthday.

Sundays are nice.

2010-08-22T21:26:00.001-05:00

Today was my mom's birthday. It was a fun, full day with family. I went over to my parents' house to hang out and having dinner.

There are wasps in the backyard all over the fruit that has fallen.

Saw a bunch of my favorite flower!

A weed is only a weed when it is unwanted.

Frolicked in the field with Kira.

Enjoyed some hammock time. *This* is summer to me.

And took a break from doodling to cut some fabric.

Moving In!

2010-08-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

I have no desire to mess with HTML today, so it is just going to be a boring looking blog for a bit. Instead I have been spending time on an art project! Here is a preview: