Adventures in Puppy Sitting & Etsy

His name is Zeus. Aaron's dad got a chocolate lab puppy for his birthday this weekend and since I have no real job I need to be attending to during the day, I got to puppy sit Zeus today. Now, you think this would be an easy task, and you're right-it's not rocket science, but it was a challenge. (I don't know how parents handle children all day, everyday, without losing their sanity. Kudos to all the parents out there). Elphie and the new pup are bff's, most of the time, but I think the pup was getting on her nerves today. After running around and banging into furniture all morning, the puppies did not let up on the activity, till about mid afternoon when Elphie was done having a new bff. She growled and showed her fangs at the pup for trying to take her bone and other chew toys-definitely child's play, but nontheless startling when I'm job hunting in the quiet of my own room. (Speaking of job hunting, I have a phone interview tomorrow afternoon so keep your fingers crossed for me!) Elphie was also very upset that I gave even the slightest bit of attention to another dog; what a jealous little dog! Aside from the chew toy fueds and the attention battles between him and my pup, it was an amusing day watching the clumspy little dog become more aware of his surroundings. It was even funnier to watch him wrestle around with Elphie, start to learn her weaknesses and then use them against her. They are both fighters, let me tell you...
After a long day, Elphie is now completely worn out as you can see...

Aside from much puppy chaos, I have been wasting my day away online finding many things I want and should not buy because I don't have a job (...yet). But you know those unfindable, gotta have items? The ones that you can never find or are never in season when you have the funds to purchase them, but are found in mass quanities when your bank account is running low? That's what I've been finding ALL DAY. It's super-frustrating, isn't it? If you have time, but not money to waste, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT visit Etsy. People have been raving about the site on their blogs and so I thought I should check it out. Why not, right? It sucks you in instantly! It has the most awesome, unique, adorable, handmade anythings you could ever want or need. But if you're like me and pretend you can buy whatever you want because you've been in search of these somethings for what seems like an eternity, then by all means, visit the site! It's wonderful, creative, and you can find all sorts of things on there; clothes, shoes, dolls, furniture, pottery-you name it and they probably have it. But don't say I didn't warn you.
Here's just a sample of some of the absolutely adorable purses I've found today and have had to convince myself that I don't really need. That's really hard to do. Just look at them!

Find it here

Right Here

And here

You see what I mean? As soon as I get a job, I'm buying one of these purses. In the meantime, I'm going to go to sleep and have dreams of dancing around with these adorable bags in arm. Be careful at that site my friends. Until next time...



BTW-You can also sell your own handmade crafts on Etsy. If you knit, do woodwork, sew, or have any other handmade craft and are would like to make some profit, you can check out the How to Sell on Etsy page and sell your finished products. It's wonderful.

A Shopping Revelation

It recently sunk in that I'm going to Aaron's sister's wedding in 2 weeks. Since it's a very religious ceremony, I need to dress accordingly. Yesterday I was hunting around at Ross and found an amazing beautiful dress that was a deep purple at the top with a square "diamond" in the middle and as the dress continued down it slowly faded to black. Gorgeous and under $30. The only problem: the top of it was a very low cut-not skanky, but not "appropriate". So I spent the rest of the day hunting around the nearby mall, hoping to find a higher cut dress that was at or around the same price. I got nothing. After going to EVERY shop in the mall (there are quite a few, let me tell you...) that could possibly have a dress and trying on every dress that might have looked nice (even the expensive ones), I called it quits for the day in the actual retail stores. I later came home and hunted for dresses online and I realized the most peculiar thing; while searching the categories online, if the site didn't have "dresses", I looked under "dressy" and found many sites with jeans and t-shirts under that category. WHAT?! After 22 years of being told that jeans t-shirts are not dressy, they suddenly are? Maybe I'm just getting old, but I was very confused and decided to looked under EVERY category on EVERY website I visited, just in case the perfect dress was hiding somwhere. And voila! I found many dresses and skirts and other pretty accessories under the "Wear to work" categories. Who woulda thought?
Unfortunately, even though I found the key to more online options, I haven't found anything I'd like to wear to the wedding. I'll probably head out to Tacoma tomorrow and see if there isn't anything better over there. One can only hope...
Until next time...

I'm a knitting MACHINE!

I've had knitting revelation: knitting with circular needles is SO easy. Once I learned to knit, I only knitted two projects with regular knitting needles. The other um-teen million projects I've made with circular and double pointed needles and almost forgot what it was like to knit with regular needles until the other night. I was teaching myself how to knit a cable pattern and used regular needles and it was SUCH a hassle. The needles were long, awkward to hold, and I was shocked at how weird it felt to use those needles. I guess that means I'm just a natural at making circular projects (ie: hats, socks-even though I haven't tried those yet, but I've got a good feeling about it).

Speaking for circular projects, I made ANOTHER hat!

And its bright green! (shocking, right?)

It's not for me, believe it or not, but I could definitely pull it off if it was mine...

It's for someone I worked with this spring. I've made a very similar hat for myself and someone else I worked with during the spring, but those were fuzzy and multi-colored. All three of them have turned out well and I keep revising the pattern as I go along and it just keeps getting better :)

My next knitting project is going to be a combination of hat styles and hopefully it will turn out how I want it. I'll keep ya posted. And then maybe I'll try my hand at a pair of socks. I'm also thinking about knitting a blanket...so many choices and so much time to try it all! Can't stop this knitting machine!

Jigga what?

Since I've been back from Florida, I've realized that I need to dress my age just a little bit more. I have a really cool Dr. Suess shirt and some other silly t-shirts that I like, but they're not really the typical clothing of an almost 23 year old female. So I'm attempting to modernize my wardrobe, or at least cut back on wearing the "childish" clothing until I get a job and can just replace my old clothes with "better" ones. 

And along with the clothes, comes the hair. Y'all know that I have crazy, and, at times, out of control hair so I've been experimenting with different ways of blow-drying my hair. Straightening always adds a few years, and I've even tried curling. Note to anyone with curly hair-SPONGE CURLERS SUCK! I slept with curlers in my hair one night and the next morning I looked like a crazy landlord with all my hair and curls stuck to my head. I DON'T recommend it. What I do recommend for those of us with curly or frizzy hair (or both!) is Bed Head Foxy Curls. It detangles curls and gets rid of static so you don't look like you stuck your finger in a socket...every day. It's worked really well for me and I've seen a definite decrease in frizz. My hair is FINALLY smoooooooth :) So be on the lookout for a KG looking her own age..dun dun dun!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

Good evening ladies and gents! 

It has not stopped raining in the Pacific Northwest since Saturday and I am about to go crazy if I don't get some sunshine SOON! No matter where we go, it still seems to rain. Aaron and I went to visit his hometown in Eastern Oregon last Thursday and just got back today and it rained there and the majority of the ride home. The trip could have been less rainy, but nonetheless it was a good time. We checked out Hot Lake Springs Hotel in La Grande, which used to be a really hopping hotel/surgical center in the early 1900's. Apparently the sulfur in natural springs were good for people and are now used as a spa treatment. In the mid 1930's, a fire burnt down half the building and the other half shut down, became run down and supposedly, "haunted". A family came in about 6 years ago, bought the property, and have been rebuilding the place ever since and are hoping to reopen the doors for hotel and a full spa and salon plus much more in the next year or so. Right now they're open for tours, so we went and checked it out. There was some pretty neat stuff and their wine isn't too bad either :) Aaron and I also made our way up to Wallowa Lake to hike around a little bit and see the lake, even though it was pouring down rain :'(  I guess its alright though since my camera still isn't fixed. Next time though...next time.

Well, hope y'all have a wonderful night and hopefully I'll be able to bring some awesome pictures your way soon. Until next time...

April showers bring May flowers

Hey y'all! I am back in Washington enjoying time with my boyfriend and pup. The spring season went by ridiculously fast and I can't believe I'm done. My last 2 crews were awesome and a challenge. I had a Venture crew from California who were a ball to be around (the awesome ones)! Every dinner, they wore fun hats/headgear such as bunny ears on Easter Sunday, or shark and fish hats (and they got me one! So exciting!) We all got along really well and it really made me want to be a part of a venture crew once I settle into a more permanent location. My last crew was the challenge because the kids never really talked and the adults only talked sometimes, which can be really weird, especially at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, they started talking more, but for some reason they didn't believe that I could swim...which is silly because I work on THE OCEAN. In the end, they had a good time and that's all that matters. But I am VERY glad to be back with Aaron and Elphie. 

Speaking of the pup, I was worried that Elphie wouldn't remember me because I've been gone for 3 months, but at the same time was attempting to mentally prepare myself for starting over with her. Turns out, she DID remember me! :0) She ran outside and jumped into my arms when she saw me and has been back to following me around ever since, as though no time has passed between the day I left for the airport and now. What a comforting feeling! And even though she's a small dog, she still attempts to protect me when I am in "harms" way. Whenever Aaron turns me upside down and I yelp or if he starts tickling me and I scream, Elphie will rush over to wherever I am and try to get in-between me and Aaron or will just jump on my lap and try to stare him down. She backs down very quickly, but it's very cute and reassuring that she'd at least come to me if I was seriously hurt. And she's got a good memory too- she remembers all the tricks Aaron and I taught her. She can wave goodnight, shake, rollover, fetch, lay down. Now I've gotta make her a better protector dog ;)

Since I've been back with Aaron and Elphie, I've been counting my blessings. After being gone so long from the ones you love, you start to remember to not take them for granted and you realize just how important they are in your life. Whether it's Elphie silly puppy smile or actually being able to hug Aaron whenever I want to, I didn't really take into account how crucial they are to my happiness. And I don't ever want to be away from them for that long ever again. Unfortunately, I don't get the same privilege with the rest of my family and friends, but I'm still very grateful for the time we have spent together and am very much looking forward to seeing everyone again someday (hopefully sooner than later)!  

In recent knitting news, I've been a failure. I was on a roll making cool beanies for a couple friends and I made a cool slouchy hat and was even teaching other people how to knit when it all fell apart. I tried making a fuzzy, lacy beanie for Jillian, but it turned out looking like a Chinese rice-picker's hat. Then I tried making a blue slouchy hat with a neat band that looks like a strap, and, unfortunately, got a huge rice-picker hat again. I think the problem was that both the patterns start from the top-down instead of from the bottom of the hat to the top and so I have sworn off all hat patterns that are top-down. I've also taken a temporary hiatus since my last knitting fiasco but I'm gonna get back to the needles this week and knit up a beanie or two and then perhaps move onto bigger and better things like wicked-awesome socks, or maybe even a toasty warm blanket. I'll keep you posted once I decide!

(rice-picker's hat)

(learning to knit parties)

Now, you're probably wondering what I'm doing with the next few months of my life. That makes two of us. I'm in Washington till the end of the week and then we're going to La Grande to visit some of Aaron's friends. Then...who knows. There's talk of a job offer for Aaron in Wyoming, maybe Wisconsin. We're also waiting to see if he gets his captain's license in time to work the summer in the Keys. We've got our fair share of waiting to do before we figure out what's going on so cross your fingers and hope for the best!

Until next time...

Return from Big Munson Island

Hey hey everyone! After 2 back to back island crews, I finally have time to sit down and blog for a moment! Hooray! The first week was super windy (hence the jackets in all the pictures below), but none the less a good time. (All the pictures on this blog post is from that week.) My camera still isn't working so I'll take what I can get! We caught a Silky shark, got ourselves 2 Blue fish (they do exist!) and some snapper for dinner on fishing day and caught a lobster in front of the island during the week as well!

The weather was much less windy this week which made all the activities more pleasant since they revolve around the water. We caught a total of 6 sharks throughout the week (Lemon, Bonnethead, and Silky), caught a squid (didn't eat it but it was fun to watch) and a lobster (YUM!). 

All in all the 2 weeks have been great but I am ready for some activities on the main land! Unfortunately, that's all I've got for now. Hopefully I'll have more stories and/or pictures to post soon. Until next time y'all...

These are the mates from our double (Me, Steven, Kacey, Mikey)

Working on our conservation project

Opening campfire. It rained the whole night so we had to improvise!