Sunday, December 30, 2007

Movin' On--

I've moved!

H E R E

Melissa at 2:37 PM

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

And one of the first...

In reference to a recent post --

And one of the first pictures taken with the new Fujifilm Finepix S5700 5700:

:) Nearly FOUR years later! Wow!

Melissa at 10:36 PM

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Cords for Johnna!

I think I am finally starting to find a balance between working, house-work, play, and sewing! Hurray! Tonight, I sewed a pair of pants for Johnna.

A couple weeks ago, I had the thought, "I know you can make pants for babies/toddlers out of adult T-shirts, but with their tiny waists, why can't you do it out of adult pants?"

SO, the next time we went to the thrift store, I picked up some khaki colored corderoy pants. Tonight, I cut into them, loaded my sewing machine with two different thread colors: teal blue for the bobbin, and bright pink for the machine! I sewed up the pants, added elastic...and thought...now what?

I don't feel comfortable enough yet to add trim or pockets, but something about these pants looked very plain and boring. Then the word EMBROIDERY came to mind! I had to think of something cute...a kitty? Johnna's initials? And then it just came to me!

The letters 1, 2, and 3 embroidered on one of the legs! And I chose colors to match my sewing machine threads! :D What's more, I used floss from the stash my Grandma gave to me.

I am not finished with the embroidery yet (and it's midnight, and I have to work tomorrow...) but once I get them finished, I hope to post some pictures!

I am really excited about these pants, because Johnna is ALWAYS wearing jogging pants or yeah, jogging pants or no pants. She has had jeans and cords, but they've always fit funny over her cloth diapers. I found a new site that shows you how to adjust for cloth butts :) so I'm really looking forward to seeing how these fit her...Would it be wrong to wake her now? Yes it would.

ps: note to self: Self, it is a lot easier to sew with shoes on than it is to sew bare foot!

Labels: crafts, embroidery, sewing

Melissa at 11:59 PM

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Savings

Yesterday, my family and I made a trip to Best Buy. I think we are going to break down and buy an iPod. We have the money (well, sorta), but I feel uncomfortable with just forking it out like that. So, I think our new plan is to save up $50 at a time from our paychecks. In doing that, we could save up for an iPod in 2-4 weeks minimum. We'll see how it goes! I'd also like to get one of those iPod docks (which is also a radio and CD player), so we may have to save for a little longer.

I also found out some heartbreaking news at Best Buy.

I've known this in my heart for some time, but our beloved camera is outdated. :(

Not only is it a mere 5 megapixels, but they no longer carry the mini-CDRs, which the camera uses to store its data. We do have a few re-writable CDRs, but...I am using this as an excuse to fullfill my desire to get a new camera.

When we bought this digital camera, years (!) ago, we were very naughty and put all $800 of it onto our credit card. We won't be doing that again! So, we'll see how this first "saving" expenditure goes!

one of the very first photographs taken with our Sony CDMavica 500. Can you believe this was taken on Dec. 13, 2003? Oh, my...where has the time gone? Farmhouse, I miss you...look at how cozy you were!

Melissa at 10:03 PM

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Saturday, October 20, 2007

White and Green

Today, a peaceful feeling spreads throughout my body. It is Saturday, and, for once, it feels like a Saturday. A big, rounded, well-deserved, do-anything sort of day.

That we did. This morning, after breakfast and clean-up, my toddling daughter and I went outside. The last week has been gloomy and rainy, but, today was gorgeous. The sun was out, making the leaves on the trees seem even more golden than they already are. I was once again reminded why I love the autumn months, and more specifically, why I love to *be outside* during the autumn months.

The most enjoyable part about it, these days, is that I have a new, youthful little companion (my daughter!). So, I've found myself once again jumping and stomping through leaf piles, picking up leaves that blow around on the streets and trying to identify them, and loving to simply run around and feel my hands and nose turn cold along with the air, but somehow manage to stay soft and warm underneath my sweatshirt.

We played outside and walked around the neighborhood until lunch time. When John came home from work, he mowed the front lawn, and then we decided we would go shopping and run a few errands.

We returned home just in time for Daddy and Baby's bedtime.

Mama plopped down on the living room floor, emptied the laundry basket, and was finally inspired to compose a blog post. Perhaps the first meaningful post in a long time...

On the floor in front of me, I saw the following:

::The Uniforms::

White in all their glory, it's these guys that help pay the bills. On the left, we have my husband's uniform. He is a baker. He's up before the crack of dawn, wearing his white and getting covered in white (flour). I am so proud of him! He is a hard worker, full of ideas and thoughts and criticism, and I only hope he can someday get out of the bakery he is in and go out on his own. From doughnuts and mixes, to from-scratch breads and contract orders for coffee shops and the COOL restraunts!

On the right, is my uniform. I haven't been back to work for very long (about one month), but, this uniform was what I wore before my daughter was born. I am a lab tech for a food ingredients company. The first time I was employed there (during my pregnancy), I loved my job! Now...although not so sure at first, I can say that...I love my job! And THAT is a great feeling!

Today, I wrote out bills (the green), and I could actually write out the bills. Not, pick and choose one or two that are due *now*, but I could actually pay what needed to be paid. And THAT is a great feeling!

There was one other pile on the floor, which also fit the category: white and green.

::The Diapers::

We have been using cloth diapers (fuzzi bunz) since our daughter was two or three months old. I really can't see us doing it any other way! I won't go into the reasoning, other than the obvious.

Tonight, on our errand-runnings, we picked up a pack of disposables (we tend to use them travelling around and recently, at night). Because we are a bit more financially stable, we bought, for the first time, eco-friendly disposable diapers. I don't have a critique on them YET, but in my heart, I feel so happy with our decision to use these vs. non-eco-friendly.

I'm very happy with our decision to spend a little extra money to do what is best for our daughter's health. I love her more than anything in the world, and it makes me feel as if I am doing a little something extra so that I can to give her what is best now, and in the future.

Melissa at 10:03 PM

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Thursday, October 18, 2007

I remembered!

So tonight, I found some grey yarn and sat on the couch and remembered how to cast on. I've attempted this a couple times before, but tonight. I actually remembered how to cast on! I even knitted a couple rows (it worked!) This says a lot because the class I took basically taught us to knit using circular needles, but yes, tonight I used metallic blue knitting needles that my Grandma had given to me! So special! I am hoping with this, I can continue and learn more and maybe even knit something substantial!

Today, Johnna and I finger painted. We got set up, and Johnna was uncertain, but I showed her how, and she did two pictures. PLUS we got three-four sets of handprints. I am planning on making pumpkins out of construction paper, only these pumpkins will have some arms and at the end of those arms will be Johnna's handprints, for the pumpkins hands. Yeah! Just a little keepsake to remember Johnna's 2nd Halloween.

Labels: art, goals, keepsakes, knitting, painting

Melissa at 10:32 PM

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Something Different

I haven't had the time to really post much, let alone work on any projects, but I do have a few snapshots I thought I'd share...to add some color and fun to this page.

Pumpkin Johnna.