koi of my dreams

for all my productivity yesterday, today has been a letdown. i woke up today feeling full-on sick. i have been mildly sick all week, but this morning kept me cooped up in the house trying to sleep it off. i hope a day of laying low & accomplishing nothing has helped me kick whatever this nasty bug was. i have to be all better for our trip!

luckily i finished my pants last night & they are all packed. {yes mom, i am packed already!} i love these pants! the pattern was a bit unclear, so there was a point where i had one large tube instead of a pair of pants. whoops! thanks goodness for seam rippers, right? i have had other simplicity patterns that have been somewhat vague, so i am thinking of avoiding that brand in the future. don't they know that if their pattern is marketed to novice sewers the must explain EVERYTHING?!?

i am so glad to have conquered my sewing machine--it haunted me each time i went in our spare room, reminding me that i wasn't smart enough to master it. take that singer!

here are a few pictures brandon took last night. (disregard the crazed sewer's disheveled appearance please!)

brandon insisted i do something "spicy" {what exactly did he mean by that?} for the second photo. not sure if this silliness was what he had in mind...

this is a close-up of the material. after the supplies {1/2 price material, pattern, elastic} these pants were still cheaper than old navy p.j.s so i am happy. it is discouraging when your handmade items end up costing more than you would pay at a store.

i have a couple of other pieces of fabric i am scheming what to do with next. after taking the sewing 101 class at mama said sew & successfully following a pattern, i am looking forward to future sewing projects.

good riddance

my thesis proposal {which is hopefully the worst part of this thesis process} is out of my hands now. good riddance indeed! now my committee members get to read it with the sole purpose of stripping it of all my mistakes & naive statements until i can't remember what i was researching to begin with. so i get to look forward to that, but for now, i don't have to do anything to this document for at least two whole weeks!

my thesis topic is: how the self-efficacy {belief in one's self to accomplish a given task} of oncology social workers impacts their willingness to conduct mental health assessments & provide supportive counseling. check back after i hear from my committee members & it might be a whole different story. i hope not.

as a reward for getting over this hurdle {that my avoidance of turned into a hurdle of epic proportions} i am gonna sew myself some pajama pants. i found awesome funky koi fabric at 50% off a week ago, meticulously ironed & cut out last night, & tonight i am gonna do the fun part: sew! the plan is to have them finished in time for our trip to austin.

other than that, i just have a few pounds of apples to turn into applesauce & can, a paper to finish for one of my classes, grading of 21 undergraduate student papers, & packing my bags for our trip before monday at 6am. it's gonna be a race to the finish!

stop over

rob & becky made a detour on their road trip to austin to see our little piece of life here in wyomin'. it was nice to be able to share some of our old favorites & new adventures with them. we went to vedauwoo & hiked around the crazy rocks. we were eager to see a moose, so eager i mistook some hikers tromping through the brush for one. oops!

we also spent lots of time in antique shops & each of us found a few treasures. i found a great print of a ponderosa (kind of nikki mcclure style) in a junky frame. we put it in a new frame & it looks great. plus it is a reminder of home, which is always a bonus! 

on saturday we packed the four of us & the two mutts in the outback. we felt like sardines in there with the dogs breathing down our necks! but it was another beautiful day so we took our time & enjoyed the trip to rocky mountain national park. we saw one elk from a distance in the park & about fifty in a city park down in town.

the park was beautiful--definitely a place i want to visit again. most of the park was closed for the season, so brandon & i need to make plans to get there next summer. too bad dogs are not welcome in national parks. i understand the rationale, but as a dog owner it really cramps my style.

on sunday we hung around the house, brandon & rob put together a washstand papa overstreet made a few years back. i need to get pictures of the finished product--it is really cool! becky & i ran errands, went for coffee, & baked an apple pie. it was nice to lay low with them. we even used our projector and $1-yard-sale-score-projection-screen to watch a movie! 

they took off yesterday after a tour of campus. it was nice that it wasn't "goodbye" since we will see them in austin in a few weeks for thanksgiving. after they left brandon & snuck in the last bike ride of the season, which was awesome. i had a wreck that left me hurting pretty bad, but it still felt good to get out before the snow hit. which it did this morning. we are in a total winter wonderland at the moment!

cookbook poetry

we are on a detox/cleanse diet this week, so naturally all i can think about is the food i can't have. instead of smoothies & soup, i want au gratin celery root & potatoes. 

a while back, on the advice of my dear friend tiffany, i requested alice waters' "the art of simple food" from the library. my love affair with this cookbook began immediately! i love that she writes out her recipes in a way that seems more like poetry than cooking instructions & how she is mindful of combining things that are in season. for the most part, every recipe seems easy to convert to gluten-free & includes lots of cream & butter! :)

i received an email notice that this book is due back soon. i want to protest & keep it forever! i could forgo every other cookbook (except for gluten-free girl, i confess) & happily cook from this book for the rest of my days. it is going to be a sad day when i have to drop it back in the heavy, cold, metal book drop, but at least i know it will take a few oil splatters from my kitchen with it.

on tonight's detox menu: broccoli & arugula soup. tomorrow: still no coffee or 1/2 & 1/2. what were we thinking?

*** update
brandon quit the cleanse. the broccoli & arugula soup was awesome & he quit before dinner, so i had this yummy {& warm!} dinner all to myself.