Make way for pants, or why I love taxes.

For once in my life, I did my taxes early and submitted them in the early part of February. Low and behold, my refund came last week. So, being the good American citizen that I am, I promptly went shopping. I put over half of the refund into savings, but then, remaining refund in hand, I went questing.

Now, before you think I am a complete spendthrift, I must say that I have managed to lose some weight in the past few months. I am perfectly able to justify clothes shopping when the trousers that I have on threaten to fall down at a moment's notice. It's not really conducive to a productive anything, after all, if you have to pull up your pants beforehand.

Anyway, I made my way over to a favorite clothing store and found that my luck was continuing. They were were having a sale on their already-clearanced items. I love it when that happens. Much to my delight, I found options. I suppose there's probably some fashion rule about not buying a pair of corduroy pants when it's February, in anticipation of spring, but since it's still snowing here in Minnesota I went right ahead and bought some. Inspired by my success, I kept looking around. An hour later, I had five pairs of pants and money left over. So, doing what any girl would do, I went over to the shoe store. I found success here, too, and brought two pairs of shoes home with me. Again, thanks to my clever bargain-hunting, I had money left over to go play with my quilts (yes, I bought some fabric). Thank you, Uncle Sam. I am happy to report that I have, indeed, learned this great lesson of life: if you pay your taxes, you, too, can have pants. And what a powerful thing it is.

Ipod Shuffle, or Two Posts in One Day

Here's yet another Facebook tagging, but this particular list makes me laugh. You have to love my life ambitions!

If you got tagged for this note, you need to copy/paste this into your own Facebook note, delete my answers, and answer the questions using your own iPod or copy of iTunes.
1. Put your iPod/iTunes on shuffle (you can select Party Shuffle in iTunes)
2. Use the song to answer the question
3. Hit “next”
4. Try not to cheat
5. Tag some of your friends so they'll do the same
AND TAG ME BACK SO I CAN READ YOUR ANSWERS. :)

1. How am I feeling today?
Some Say, Rascal Flatts

2. How far will I get in life?
Oh, My Dear (Something’s Gone Wrong), Harry Connick, Jr.,

3. What is my best friend’s theme song?
Peace, Norah Jones

4. What was high school like?
I Pledge Allegiance, Janice Kapp Perry

5. How will today be?
The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

6. What is in store for me this weekend?
God Is Good, Trek: A Nashville Tribute

7. What is the best thing about me?
Thankful, Josh Groban

8. What song describes my parents?
Going to School (Live Version), Yo-Yo Ma

9. How is my life going?
Big Rock Candy Mountain, Harry McClintock

10. What song will they play at my funeral?
The End of a Perfect Day, Children of Eden

11. How does the world see me?
Infatuation (Bonus Track), Maroon 5

12. What do my friends think of me?
Satellite (Live), Dave Matthews

13. Do people secretly think I’m good looking?
Good Morning Sunshine, Aqua

14. How can I make myself happy?
My Friend, the Brachiosaurus, John Williams (Jurassic Park)

15. What should I do with my life?
Red Red Wine, Neil Diamond

16. What is some good advice?
Through the Rain, Mariah Carey

17. Will I get married?
Push It, Salt N Pepa

18. Where will I go in life?
Curbside Prophet, Jason Mraz

19. Will I have kids?
Scene: Ballroom, from The Secret Garden

20. What is my current theme song?
Everything, Eclipse

25 Random Things About Me

Since I've been tagged with this list so many times on Facebook, I figured I could post here as well. Yay for having a blog entry!

25 Random things about me

25. I have a metal plate in my face from having jaw surgery my senior year of high school. When it gets really, really cold outside (i.e. a Minnesota winter), said plate tends to get cold and freeze my face. There is a valid reason why I’m always having to wear a scarf!

24. I love to read other people’s blogs, even though I’m awful at doing my own. For example, I have a list of about 10 to 15 quilting blogs that I like to read, even though I have never met these people. I have learned quite a bit about their lives; it’s kind of fun.

23. If I could have any talent, I would love to learn how to sing. Currently, I can manage the hymns at church, but only if I’m sitting by somebody who is singing the same part. It really throws me for a loop when I’m sitting by Caitlin and she insists that everyone sing a different part.

22. One of my favorite things about Caitlin is that she has seen mostly the same random assortment of movies as me, and she can recognize almost any movie quotation that I throw out. Quotations just aren’t so funny if nobody recognizes them.

21. One of my favorite things about my little brother Andrew is that he can make me laugh like no one else can. All he has to do is look at me and lift his eyebrow a certain way and I dissolve into the giggles. Of course, he also knows exactly what buttons to push to annoy me, but he makes up for it by being such a kind man.

20. I love to travel. I don’t necessarily enjoy the packing or the actual process of getting from one place to another (cramped airplanes aren’t my thing), but I love getting to see new places. I would love to go to Greece someday; it looks like a cool place to go.


19. I am not a fan of cold temperatures (see item #25). Ironic, given my current location, but it’s not really my thing. I don’t mind snow if it’s not in my way, but I’m not such a fan of shoveling. And frostbite, while entertaining at first, kind of looses its appeal quickly. I’m still waiting for global warming to hit Minnesota.

18. I love playing ice soccer. People from non-winter climates think I’m insane when I tell them of this game, but it is actually quite fun. You are basically playing soccer on an ice rink while bundled up against the cold. What can I say? The cold does funny thing to your definition of fun.

17. I am allergic to kiwi and cats. Fortunately, kiwi is a fairly easy fruit to avoid, and Americans don’t generally eat their cats.

16. I drive more slowly than either of my grandmothers. Seriously. If you ask any of my former roommates, they will always tell you that they would prefer to drive their own cars rather than having to ride with me.

15. Apparently, people meeting me for the first time, or those persons who don’t know me very well, think I’m quiet and shy. Everyone I do know, however, would snort their brains out to hear such a thing.

14. Once in graduate school, after I finished giving a class presentation, the first thing the professor told me (in front of the class) was that he was appreciative of my lisp because it made me seem approachable. I have never in my life seen so many people look so dumbfounded all at the same time. Fortunately, no one made eye contact with me, so there was no snorting (nor snickering) involved.

13. There are very few hymns I can sing with a straight face. For example, my freshman bishop’s favorite song was “Scatter Sunshine.” He told us one Sunday to imagine him, and his counselors, dressed up in fluffy pink tutus and toe shoes, holding baskets of flowers and scattering sunshine from their baskets. Needless to say, I have a hard time with that one. There are plenty more, but I won’t spoil them for everyone. If you want the stories, however, just ask.

12. Technology hates me. I had a hate-hate relationship with the copy machine in the psychology department office; it worked fine for everyone else until I happened to walk into the room. I don’t know if I have some sort of weird polarity in my bloodstream or something, but computers and electronic machines all seem to crash if I’m around. So, being the intelligent person that I am, I can only conclude that it’s me.

11. I had at least one roommate get married every year I was at college. I’m not claiming any responsibility, since most of those couples were already dating before they met me, but I consider myself an extra good luck charm.

10. I get lost very easily. I have gotten lost in small towns (as in blink-and-you-miss-them) and big cities (Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City) alike, so I am very seriously considering buying a GPS system for my car. I think at this point, it’s becoming a necessity.

9. I’m constantly amazed by how much I’ve forgotten since high school. Once upon a time, I could diagram the Krebs cycle and tell you how to calculate the arcsine of an angle. These days, all I can do is tell you how I feel about them.

8. I <3 fabric. ‘Nuff said.

7. I tend to name inanimate objects. My sewing machine is Wilma (I think), my serger is Flo (short for Florence), and my hand-held mixer is just asking for a nickname.

6. I am a rotten liar. Something in my face and/or voice always gives it away when I’m trying to pull something on someone. I once convinced my roommate (courtesy of instant messaging), that I had chopped off all but an inch of my hair over Christmas break. However, my mom and sister made me feel so guilty about lying that I had to confess the truth the next day. My roommate still hasn’t forgiven me (although I’m not sure if it’s because lied or because I actually succeeded in pranking her).

5. I prefer the great indoors to the great outdoors. Of course, since I’m allergic to smoke, dust, pollen, ragweed, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, perfumes, scents, and most other animals with hair, there’s a very good explanation why I prefer a good mattress and hot shower to camping outside. I have gone camping and enjoyed it, but I’m not such a big fan of the campfire smell.

4. Opinionated isn’t a strong enough word to describe me.

3. I’ve never had a cavity. I’ve had plenty of orthodontic work done, but never a cavity. Yay me.

2. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was seventeen (almost seventeen-and-a-half), and even then, it was under duress. What can I say? I don’t particularly care for driving, even if I am a slowpoke.

1. If everyone jumped off a cliff, I probably would, too. After all, by the time I got there, there would be lots of padding for me to land on and I would mostly likely walk away.

Waiting on the world to change

It hit me that if I keep waiting until I have news, nothing will ever get posted on this little blog of mind. Instead, I am going to attempt to post something weekly, if only to give the illusion that I made and am attempting to keep a New Year's resolution. I've been keeping myself out of trouble; I've been sorting through my old stuff and working on projects while I'm home. I did find my camera, so hopefully, we can return to the illustrated version of life with Sarah. In the past four months, I've pieced one quilt top, two table runners, one tree skirt, one wall hanging-size quilt, and finished quilting the quilt I started years ago when I was visiting my sister. Do you remember the leaf quilt, Amy? It's done. Basically, business as usual around here. It's a rotten time to be looking for a job!

Graduation pics!

Since I haven't forgotten my blog, here is a brief update of my summer:
May: working like mad on thesis
June: working like mad finishing thesis
July: defending thesis, driving home
August: driving to Utah, graduation, driving to Canada, driving home
September: looking for a job, twiddling my thumbs, quilting up a storm
October: who knows? Hopefully, acquiring employment.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here's photographic proof of my participation in graduation in August! Thank you to Caitlin for taking these, since I was otherwise occupied at the time (and for the fact that I accidentally packed my camera. Oops).

Here we have the nice, standard, typical, boring graduation shot.


But, low and behold, if I turn around, there's a hood!


Forget my face. Let's see more of that hood!


Caitlin and me outside the Marriott Center.


Caitlin dreams. . . .



and dreams some more. . .



While I'm just ecstatic to be done!



I think I'm laughing, although it kind of looks like a grimace. Who knows? At least it's better than my Halloween picture!

Still here

I'm not dead yet, nor have I completely forgotten about my blog. I will post an update soon, I hope!

Time for a vacation!

Since the thesis is officially submitted to the library for binding, I am taking off the next few weeks until graduation to go play. I'm so excited to go home; it's a really nice change not to have deadlines looming overhead. If I can find my camera, I will try to take some decent pictures to post. The problem with packing stuff away for safe keeping is that I can't ever find it again. Oh, well. I'm sure it's in my car somewhere!

Christmas in July (or what to do if you suddenly have time on your hands)

Well, I guess I can blame the holidays for the lack of blog comments. I had thought that especially since the last news, there would be more than a few. Thanks, Karon and Heather; I'm glad people still read this! :-) My current roommates celebrated by taking me out to dinner; it was wonderful. If I could manage not having to make dinner every night, I'd take it. Oh, well; that's life, I suppose.

Anyway, since I've made most of my revisions and am now (for the most part) finished with my degree, I've had the time to do pretty much whatever I want. Aside from being really tired and having a cold set in yesterday, I've been sewing up a storm. I finished the top for a Christmas quilt runner (hence the title of the blog post), I made sample blocks for a couple of quilts I want to try, and I picked out border fabrics for the last quilt I finished piecing before the thesis defense. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to sew some light weight pajama capri pants. Fleece and flannel just don't cut it when it's in the 90s outside. Blech. At least the fireworks yesterday were fun. I've seen better ones, but they weren't too bad.

I've also gotten to start reading a few books I haven't yet had time for, and my plans for the next week or so involve nothing more than revising my thesis, checking the formatting, and getting this puppy officially bound. It's a big relief, as I'm sure you can imagine. I'm looking forward to putzing around with my sewing machine for the next few weeks. Being the dork that I am, I've already started planning my Christmas presents. Hey, come on, it takes a while. Plus, I have another Christmas stocking to make.

I also get to update my resume in the coming days. Since my computer crashed and lost the previous version, I get to start from scratch. :-) Oh, joy. Well, at least since I'm technically in school since August, I've got a little bit of time. Oh, and since I'm out of clean clothes, I think laundry wins as Monday's task. I'm down doing only one productive thing per day, and man, is it fun!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to you all!



Oh, by the way, I defended my master's thesis this afternoon. . . .



And. . . .



Wait for it . . .



Wait for it. . . .



I PASSED!


I have some minor revisions to make, but it looks like I will officially graduate with my master's degree in August.


Good thing fireworks are legal this weekend. I really feel like celebrating! :-)

Breathe in, breathe out.

We will shortly be hearing no more from the thesis.

In the meantime, I realized yesterday that I am one of those dreaded bloggers who only updates once every few weeks. I apologize; I never realized until now how involved I have become with my thesis. I would say we're having an exclusive relationship, except that sometimes, I neglect it for doing laundry or running to the grocery store. My roommate's friend was over last night and we started chatting, and I realized that except for Family Home Evening on Mondays, I haven't really done anything truly social for the past few months. Yikes! And since I got released from being a Family Home Evening leader three weeks ago, I haven't even had that. Wow. Can we say one-track mind?

Anyway, I now make the promise now that shortly, we will never have to mention the t-word again. No more blogs about it, no more phone calls, no more e-mails. Aren't you excited? I certainly am.

My advisor has a completed draft of everything, and barring any major changes, I will most likely have an official defense date by tomorrow. The university says I have to have it scheduled by Friday if I want to graduate in August. Eek.

In the meantime, I'm going breathe in and breathe out. I come from a long line of overreactors, and right now, I'm doing them all proud.

Gotta love those genes!

Speaking of which, I found a good side benefit to all the stress. I'm now down to a smaller pants size.

Talk about loving your jeans. . . .