A Very Merry Oregon Crochetmas!

Hey guys!

So I've already showed you all everything that I whipped up for my relatives and loved ones in Michigan, but I haven't mentioned what I made for my family in Oregon because obviously Patrick and I were out of town and did not get home until after Christmas, which meant that we had to wait to open presents. I also wanted to wait to post this because Patrick's daughter was coming to town to visit with us and I made something for her, as well, so I wanted to wait until she got to see her gift before I posted anything.

TARDIS Scarf

 

So this TARDIS scarf is what I made for Patrick for Christmas! For those of you who don't know, it is a Doctor Who themed scarf, a show which Patrick loves. The scarf measures somewhere around 6 feet long and the TARDIS pieces are actually separately sewn to the scarf so they serve as pockets! And true to Patrick's love of fringe, there is lots of fringe sewn in at the bottom. I didn't use a pattern for this-- it is one of my own making. 

The wooden spoon is to show how deep the pockets go. I actually didn't have the spoon all the way in the pocket, but you get the idea. This scarf was another mixed media project, which I sewed together with a sewing machine. I felt that it was more appropriate than trying to stitch together the edges with yarn, which would just make it bulky and cause the edges of the pockets to be misshapen. Given the opportunity to change anything, I would add a grey block underneath the left window (because apparently there is some kind of sign on the TARDIS), and I might try to embroider "Police Box" onto the black bit at the top. I didn't try that this time because I was pressed for time and I hate embroidering on crochet, but I could always add it later. I also think an iron-on patch would be neat there but I would have to find one in the correct size... and the iron might melt the yarn since it is acrylic. Another option would be to embroider a piece of felt and glue that to the scarf, which I did consider but again, I was pressed for time (I actually finished this the night before I left for the airport for Michigan). 

Jack Skellington Coin Purse 2.0

Jack Skellington Coin Purse Pattern

After my sister-in-law saw a photo of the original coin purse that I made for Michigan Crochetmas, she commissioned me to make another for her daughter! The money is just to show that the purse unzips.

For this coin purse I used the same pattern as last time but I did a different face and instead of stitching up the edges with yarn, I used my sewing machine.

POT Holders

I had an idea one night and by the next afternoon I had these ready to pack up and give away-- POT Holders (excuse me while I die of laughter at my wit)! Apparently I am not the only person in the world who has thought of this because it was not too difficult to find a pattern for the leaves (though I wrote it down and forgot where I got it from). These are a set of pot holders for a friend of ours. I'm not sorry if these offend some people-- they're a pun in and of themselves and they're hilarious (and useful!).

Totoro

Totoro Pattern

In my Michigan Crochetmas post, I noted that one of the largest items that I made was a piggy (and I didn't mean to make it so large)... This Totoro takes the cake by far, and the photos don't even do justice to his true size! I didn't exactly mean to make something so large (in theory a 9 inch stuffed animal doesn't sound so big) but holy crap, this thing took SO MANY DAYS. If I totaled up the number of hours that I worked on this guy and only gave myself $7 per hour plus the cost of materials, he would cost well over $100 to sell. I had to take time off from making it because my hands started cramping up! In the end he ended up measuring 10 inches in body height, 12.5 inches in total height (with the ears) and he measures 20.5 inches around at his widest point. I will definitely start considering size from now on when I find patterns that I want to follow! 

Cat Ear Hat

Cat Ear Hat Pattern

I also decided that it's about damn time that I made myself something, because up until this point I have only ever made myself two scarves (which I ended up taking apart to use the yarn for other projects) and a pair of slippers (one of which fell apart because I didn't secure it well), so I decided to make this cat ear hat! My photo does not do it justice so I encourage you to click the pattern link to see what the hat looks like in good lighting (and without Snapchat captions). I'm really pleased with how it turned out! 

 I hope you all are having a wonderful New Year so far! 

What a Wonderful Life!

Hey everyone!

It has, once again, been way too long since my last blog post. That was back in June, and it's already almost October! Holy crap!

While we had a bit of a break from "major events" for a while, these past few months have been quite insane to say the very least. Since my last post, Patrick has been travelling so much that neither of us knows where he is half of the time. Beginning in May, he has been to Florida, Oklahoma, Nevada (2x), Ohio (3x), California (2x and far enough away that he was staying in the city he was working in), Missouri, Canada, Washington, and California (different city and, again, far enough away). Each of these stays was anywhere from 3-5 days long, with a day tacked on each end of the trip for travel, so we haven't seen a whole lot of each other, especially during the last four weeks! Making it work has been difficult, but we're both very careful to make our time together count when he is home. Thankfully his travel schedule is slowing down now and I have been able to go with him on those trips that are within driving distance. He has three more trips scheduled for the next few months, and I get to go on two of those (Vegas and Reno, here we come!) and right now we are in Sacramento, making his trip into a long weekend for us so that we can spend some quality time together.

During that time we also moved! I'm so excited to say that we have moved to a place close enough to all of our friends that driving to see one another is not a big ordeal, plus we can still make Rocky shows. The biggest hook for us was that we will be saving quite a bit in rent. The place that we moved out of is now renting for anywhere between $2,700-$3,700 per month now that it's updated. We're incredibly lucky to have found a place that we're both really pleased with. We're saving on rent, our apartment is a billion (yes, A BILLION) times better than our old one, the city is much more navigable for me, and we're just down the street from a couple of our friends in case of an emergency. Oh, and there are at least seven kitties that just hang out in the apartment complex at all times. They're part of my clan. We're starting an army.

This is Oreo. There is also Stumpy, Tom, Scooter, and a couple of others that I've named but haven't seen in a while. We're best friends. 

We were also able to attend a Nine Inch Nails concert together, which was fantastic!

For someone who is used to a very grid-like city, with each main road one mile apart from the next and probably 90% of them are straight road with little to no curve, moving to a city where almost no roads run only N&S or E&W is really unnerving, especially if you're like me and tend to panic when you turn the wrong way or don't know where you're going. Unfortunately, that is exactly how our last city was. This panic stems directly from getting lost in Detroit alone, at night, with no GPS signal, gas tank on E, and no one answering their phone. I know the things that could have happened there are much less likely to happen here, but when you get lost in Detroit under those circumstances you know to just keep driving until you find the freeway or risk a very dangerous situation (and I'm taking about a really bad area, one that even Detroit natives tend to avoid). Our new city is much more like what I'm used to! It's fantastic to move to a city where there are grid-like roads and the traffic isn't so bad that you have to worry about being able to get off or back on a road in order to check a map or make a phone call. I'm super relieved that I feel like I can drive myself around again!

In summary, I'm finding our new town to be superb and I am super pleased that we chose to move where we are.

Other fantastic news: Our friends Brook & Mandy welcomed their first baby, Harlow, to the world. He is so handsome and sweet and I'm super happy for the both of them. In addition, our friends James & Aimee welcomed their first baby, Tesla, just a few weeks later! We have yet to meet her, but we are excited to do so! We also have a Disney trip planned for November and we have quite a few Rocky Horror shows planned for October, so we have a busy couple of months coming up!

Welcome, Harlow! Pleased to meet you :)

Wedding planning is full speed ahead. So far I've gotten my dress, my girls have their dresses picked out, Patrick has his tux picked out, the venue has been paid for, over 50% of the decorations have been crafted, the invites have been picked out, and we've chosen an officiant and a photographer! However, I am having a lot of trouble with our chosen caterer. My grandparents have been amazing and even with everything they have going on right now they are still offering to foot the catering bill. They suggested Joe's Produce to me, which I was all for. My family has shopped at Joe's for years and my grandmother (the other one) actually works there. However, the Catering Coordinator there is just awful with communication. It has been two months and I've emailed twice asking for an updated breakdown of our costs so that we can all budget accordingly, and apparently that is just too much for her to handle. I'm very disappointed and at this point, until I talk to my grandparents about it, I will probably not be going with their services. While I understand that wedding business is always busy, I intend to be a paying customer (and I would be happy to put a down payment on everything if that meant I would get some decent service!) and I am already disappointed to say the very least. Besides that, all that's left is dress alterations, bar services, all floral arrangements, and the rest of the decorations.

The downside to life right now is that my car is having troubles. Yes, that's right, Hercules is struggling. While I've always known that my car has slowly been falling apart, lately he has just given up. It seems that he won't start unless really coaxed to and it's especially difficult when it is either too hot or cold outside. The other day, I almost got stranded at Target. Even after a (probably unnecessary) jump start from Mall Security, he still wouldn't start. I spent more than an hour trying to get my car going before I decided to bother some friends when finally he started right up. Patrick was out of town, Brook and Mandy had only been home for a day with their new baby, and Delfino was at work, so I was really stressed out. Thankfully the car started, but I got offers for help from both Brook and Delfino, plus Brook ended up lending me her car for the week! (Thank you again so much for letting me borrow your car. You and Mandy are the best!)

Patrick and I believe it's a gas-related issue (hehe), and we're hoping that it won't be too much to fix, but with the mileage and age of my car we are really looking into other options because we know other parts will start to go soon, and it's just a matter of "how much will this be to fix and how long will the car last in the long run" versus "how much will it be to lease/pay off a new vehicle in the time that we will have been able to keep the current car." It's a really emotional thing for me because Hercules (and yes, he is a boy) is my first car. We've been through a lot together, including what could have been a very serious accident had it not been for the sturdiness of my car, and there was a long period of my life that I was basically living out of my car during the day because I did so much running around and either sleeping at home or at a friend's house at night. My car has been reliable and faithful to me and even took me and all of my belongings through eight states, but it's time to seriously consider the options at hand. As hard as it may be, the best option may be to move on. We shall see.

I'm currently posting this from our hotel room in Rancho Cordova from my brand new laptop (thanks, state taxes, for finally going through after getting lost the first time, and thanks to Patrick for blowing some of that money on me). We just spent a wonderful day in Sacramento on real date (complete with carriage ride and a nap!) and I'm reflecting on how incredibly wonderful life has been to me, even with its ups and downs. I'm a very thankful woman today :)

Please enjoy many photos of our first day in Sacramento-ish (we're a couple of miles away). I'll proabably have more to post later as we explore!

On our way from Rancho Cordova to Sacramento for our Date Day! But first, let me take a selfie.

Selfie with this guy... Who is he? I have no idea. But a selfie with a bust of an old white guy is always a good idea. This was taken in some museum that we went into. I can only imagine it was called the Sacramento Museum or something. 

More museum goods! Honestly the whole thing was a little boring. Too much reading! Not nearly as rich as I'm used to (growing up withThe Henry Ford Museum must have spoiled me).

Our view during lunch!

We had lunch at an adorable Chicago-Style Pizzeria. The patio was so cute and we had it all to ourselves-- in fact, we were the only customers there!

  

Mmm, Caesar Salad

Patrick's Shrimp Pesto personal pizza

My not-so-pretty, already-cut-into-pieces Chicago Hawiian pizza with mushrooms, mmm

Patrick booked a carriage ride through the park for us. This is the first time I have ever been near a horse and he let me pet him!

Now we're best friends.

I guess I own a novelty store? Honestly the store was really disappointing, but if they ever go out of business I'm going to need that sign!

Ridiculous? Yes. Did we choke on our mini doughnuts because we were laughing? Also yes.

Patrick told me that he has spent his entire life avoiding things like these, but for me he would take an Old Time picture. I think it's awesome! It needs to go on all of your walls in a nice frame. No worries, I'll definitely post one in our guest bathroom so you can look at it while you poo when you visit us. Next time we're in Disneyland I'm going to make him do caricatures with me :P

A Very Bittersweet Mitten Visit

Hi everyone!

I am very well aware of how long it has been since my last post. Back in February I shared with you all my excitement about my recent engagement to Patrick, however, as soon as we came back from that trip to Disneyland I began working full time and Patrick began to travel quite a bit. Our lives have been very routine and nothing extremely out-of-the-ordinary has happened since then until this point. As of Saturday, June 28, 2014, I have lived in California for one year-- therefore, a blog post is most appropriate.

Without further ado, I will try to update in as short a post as I can, since I will need to cover several areas.

In early May, a great honor was bestowed upon me; I became a Cat-Mom! Long story short, a beautiful tortoiseshell kitty was left at my work and I (quite aggressively) volunteered (or maybe "demanded") to bring her home with me after a lot of begging with Patrick. It has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Our new kitty, re-named Marble (like a marble countertop), is the best kitty! She is so sweet, playful, and independent. She is not super cuddly but doesn't complain too much when I force her to love me. She enjoys laser pointers, treats, and head scratches. She likes to sleep on my chest and play with the door stopper in our bedroom, and she finds that the hours between midnight and 2AM are the best time to play!

In late May, I turned in my letter of resignation at work. My last day was in mid June. While it was very likely one of the most incredible jobs I will ever have, there were quite a few factors in my decision to resign from my position as Lead/Supervisor. I leave with no quarrels or regret; in fact, I hold the relationships I formed there very close to my heart and I will always keep in touch with my boss, manager, and co-workers. My love goes out to everyone at The Cats' Inn and all of the kitties that I fell in love with during my 9 1/2 months there.

Without revealing anything too personal about anyone besides my own self, my family found out in late May that a very close family member was diagnosed with cancer for the second time and would be undergoing surgery.  I booked a plane ticket home with a heavy heart.

Meanwhile, another family member, my Uncle Gerry, was losing his very long battle against cancer. I arrived mere days after my Uncle's passing. While at first it broke my heart that I missed my chance to say goodbye to my Uncle Gerry, who is my father's namesake and was very dear to everyone who ever met him, I know that it is for the best that I will always remember him as the quiet, strong man that I have known my whole life. When you don't have a lot to say, people listen when you speak. This is the way Uncle Gerry lived his life. He was non-judgemental, humble, and one of the most incredible men I have ever had the honor to know.

There have been some complications with my other family member's surgery, however we are all still very optimistic that the trials will pass and the cancer will be gone for good this time.

While in Michigan for two weeks, I visited with a lot of family and a few friends. In my spare time, I also did quite a bit of wedding preparation for our upcoming wedding in May 2015. I laughed, I cried, and I received a lot of hugs and kisses. This trip was, without a doubt, probably the most bittersweet visit to the Mitten that I will have for a very long time.

Michigan eats!

Getting ready to get married! Greenmead in May 2015, here we come!

Frankenmuth with the babies. I missed my sisters!

They're going to be ushers at my wedding... Quick, does anyone know the number for a Charm/Finishing school for men? They could use some polishing :P

Yesterday I arrived back in California. The last two weeks have been a blur and I'm glad to be back in the Bay Area, however I'm so very blessed to have been able to spend that time back home with my loved ones.

I'd forgotten how much I miss the Michigan weather, however I do not miss the construction season or the traffic from the I-96 shut down (however the traffic is still better than the Bay Area traffic). While there, I definitely noticed a change in my behavior and my internal climate. I am clearly adjusting to the Bay Area weather, since I was never uncomfortable even in the most stuffy and warm situations that everyone else complained about. I also have Patrick to thank for my new outlook on life and money. I now know how to swipe my card without ever once asking "How much", which is probably the most common question I hear in Michigan. I was also told to "quit with the accent," and "It's POP, not SODA!" Due to these little things I've noticed a change in, I've made an adjustment to the blog name again (which you may or may not have noticed-- it was previously "Midwest State of Mind," and before that it was "The Out of Stater.")

I have had an incredible first year in California. In the last year I have:

• Driven 2,400 miles in a tiny black car (with no air conditioning at the end of June)
• Moved in with the man of my dreams
• Joined a Rocky Horror Picture Show cast filled with crazy people (but I love them anyway!)
• Met some incredible people that I am honored and proud to call my friends
• Visited Disneyland more times than I can count
• Worked at a cat boarding/grooming facility (every crazy cat lady's dream!)
• Received and accepted a proposal of marriage from said man of my dreams (in Disneyland, no less!)
• Began wedding planning/preparations
• Got a cat  =^. .^=
• Visited Michigan twice

I will try to update more often now that I am not currently working. Thanks, everyone, for your patience and support!

In loving memory of Uncle Gerry

As you were ♡

The First Holiday & Brook's Promotion

Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry for the picture quality-- they were taken with my crappy phone (but I'm getting a new one within a few days!) because our camera was broken at a Rocky show (someone stepped on it and blacked out the screen).

The first exciting thing that has happened to me recently is that I got a promotion at work! That's right-- I'm not even past my 3 month probationary period and I've already gotten promoted over everyone else (and, remember, I'm still the newest person working there)! I'm so excited about this opportunity. I also feel that it's going really well so far! I'm proud to have reached the point where someone recognizes that I don't hold back when it comes to work and that I will do what it takes to get the job done. I've gotten a raise with this promotion, so that is also super exciting! I started out as someone who just cleans out kennels (remember, I work at a cat hotel, so every morning we clean out the kennels so our kitties can have a fresh start each day). Now, I'm in charge of everyone who does that. In addition to cleaning out kennels, I'm the one who comes up with a game plan for the day and organizes the back, making sure everything is clean, accessible, and equally distributed. It's a lot of work, but I'm up for the challenge (and the increase in hours)!

On the second day your kitty stays with us, we take a picture of them to reassure you and show you how much fun they're having! For holidays, we have a small separate room that we clear out and decorate for the holiday accordingly. Here is the "Thanksgiving" setup that I did!

While that was more of an announcement, the next bit is more of a recap of the most recent event, Thanksgiving.

I knew moving away from my family would be difficult. I've never been very good at making friends, so while I had three or four friends back home that I would spend time with, I was always (and still am) extremely family oriented. Every day gets a little easier, but I never stop missing my loved ones back home. While technically Independence Day was my first holiday away from home, it's not one that I normally celebrate-- and Halloween isn't exactly family-ish, either-- so the first "family holiday" was Thanksgiving. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I became increasingly sad. I have never spent a holiday away from my family, and there are staples in each holiday that I am so used to because they have become tradition, so there was a very sad overcast surrounding the upcoming holiday.

On Thursday, I ended up having to work (because the kitties need love and care, too!), so I woke up at my normal 6am and headed in to work an hour early so that I could try to get some of the base work done so that the rest of the employees could come in at our later holiday start time and just get started on their assigned tasks. The day was very long and dragging, but my boss made it so worth it when our manager sent us all on lunch and we found a gigantic Thanksgiving feast in the break room waiting for us. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, spinach dip with crackers, stuffing, broccoli and cauliflower, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, and sparkling cider, all laid out on the counter for the employees that worked on the holiday.

Let me quickly go off on a bit of a tangent here and tell you about my work experience. Since I turned 18, I have had five jobs (my current job makes six, keeping in mind that I mostly did not work while I was in college). Our of the five, my favorite was obviously the Han D Dip. Cathy and Dawn made our jobs so worth it and I was almost always excited to work. This was when I discovered my preference for Mom & Pop shops. Franchise companies or even companies that work contractually are very strict and, at least for those that I have worked for, tend to ignore/fail to notice when an employee is doing ANYTHING. Let me give you an example of what I mean when I say ANYTHING-- they fail to notice when you work hard, when you slack, when you need help, when you're doing extra to make up for someone else, and even that you're a human being that makes mistakes. My favorite thing about working for a small company is that you are noticed and treated like a person-- not something that is expendable. When I decided to move here, one of the hardest things I had to do was leave my job at the Han D Dip. Patrick was so patient with me as I looked for work here and waited for the right opportunity, and I cannot thank him enough for that. When I applied for my job, I was nervous, but even my interview felt intimate and friendly, so when I was offered the job I was so excited to take the deal. I have not regretted it. Working for a small company with such compassionate people in charge is the only way I ever want to work. A boss who brings you an elaborate feast on Thanksgiving is the kind of person that I will work for any day. It takes the sting of missing the holiday away, and that is so significant and heart warming.

If I can't spend the holiday with family until later, I think I'm okay spending it with this guy!

Sahib loves me. Really, he does.

After we finally got out of work (holidays are busy because while our clients go out of town, we get to house their kitties! So we had a very very full house this week-- we were booked full), I headed home and Patrick and I got ready to go to Shannon and Jared's house. Shannon and Jared are such incredible people. Patrick doesn't have much family except for an out of state sister and Jackie, so holidays aren't as important to him as they are to me because he didn't always have someone to spend them with. However, when he joined the Bawdy Caste, the directors pretty much adopted him (and me, too, when I got here), and then invited us so spend Thanksgiving with them and their family. To say that this meant a lot to me is an understatement. I was so afraid when I moved here that no one would like me, yet I've been adopted into a family that loves me and supports me in every way, no questions asked. It's more than I could ever ask for and I am so very grateful!

We spent most of the day at S&J's but I wore out quickly because I had been up all day and had worked beforehand, so we left around 9pm and headed home. The next day, I was a little bit sad that I didn't have some specific things during dinner (things that my family makes without fail every year), so that night Patrick and I made our own "Thanksgiving" feast: chicken breast (because I hate Turkey), green bean casserole (my standing favorite of all holiday dishes, even beating out pumpkin pie), mashed potatoes, and for dessert, oatmeal cookies.

Leftovers from Shannon and Jared's. Mmmm breakfast mashed potatoes

Our "makeup" Thanksgiving dinner (pretty much just so I could have an excuse to make green bean casserole and then eat all of it)

Overall, while I would have loved to spend the holiday with my family back home from Michigan, I had an incredible holiday this year because I got to spend it with my work family, my Rocky family, and Patrick. If I focus on that, everything else is just quite alright with me.



***For those of you who fail to read my Facebook posts but read my blog, here is the Facebook status I put up this week. It addresses the upcoming Christmas holiday:

"Hey everyone,
This is a quick message for anyone back home who is wondering about the upcoming holidays. Though I've been trying to save up for a plane ticket so that I can come home for Christmas, unfortunately I do still have bills to pay and right now it is about $1,000 for a halfway decent plane ticket back to the Mitten (meaning I do not have 8 hour layovers or a board time of 3:00am or flights spanning beyond one day's time). Therefore, I will not be able to make it home for Christmas even though that was my original plan. For anyone who suggests a bus ticket, please realize that I do have a job and that traveling for 3 days to get to Michigan and then 3 days to get back to California is just absurd and I cannot do that, especially with my recent promotion at work. While I miss everyone and tomorrow will be especially difficult for me since it will be my first holiday away from my family, I hope that everyone understands the situation that I am in and respects that I cannot make something like that happen. I love and miss everyone and hopefully next year will be different. 
Brook"