So what ELSE are you doing in Hawaii?

If you were just reading my last few posts, then you might think that we moved all the way out here to Hawaii, and then I do nothing but knit.  Well, you'd be wrong ... at least a little :)

Quite honestly, it is WONDERFUL being in a real Place again.  Our last 8+ years have been spent in very hot, very dry places, where you have to drive a good bit to get to almost anything one might want to do.  I mean, in CA, we were 40 miles from the closest town; 73 miles from the closest Target, bookstore, and movie theater; 2 hours from the closest Chick-Fil-A (important landmarks, you know); and a bit over 2 hours from either a lake, beach, or wooded mountain.  In Texas, things were a bit better (Target and bookstores were in town, at least) but we still were looking at several hours of driving to get to decent hiking, museums, or most events or activities we wanted to do.  This is really the first time in almost a decade where we're in a Real City again.  Let's face it, the Army doesn't really send you to cities all that often.  The Navy at least almost has to send you to a port (which will also be a City 95% of the time) but the Army... they like their space to drive tanks around and practice blowing stuff up.  Being in a city doesn't really give you that sort of space.  So, we're in a city for now, and we plan to enjoy it!

 

Being in a real Place again, we are facing the relatively unfamiliar position of having to make choices about what to do on a weekend!  I mean, more than one thing might be going on that we want to go to!  Craziness!!  There are cultural festivals, plays, concerts, independent movie theaters, museums (plural!!), sports events, historical sites... plus tons of hiking and beaches and natural activities too.  And people to do it with!!  It's a really nice feeling to be able to get out of the house and do stuff again, without tons of driving to plan in.

 

Even with driving to plan in, though, it's still not ridiculous (assuming traffic cooperates).  My commute to work is across the island, and it's still only about 25-30 minutes (usually).  I have blocked off that amount of time just to get across town in some of the places I've lived. Some people plan on that time (or more) just to commute within Honolulu, and I know people in TX that commuted up from Austin or its suburbs, and they had a 45-60 minute commute.  But the fact that I work "all the way over" on the Windward side... I think it's the mental distance more than the time.  I had to pick something up from a business over in Kailua (Windward side), and when the lady called to tell me it was ready, she said that it could be mailed to me, if I couldn't pick it up myself.  She didn't actually say it, but that "all the way over there" was certainly in her voice.  Coming from driving-happy Central TX, where driving "just down to Austin" (90 minutes away) is no big deal, it really made me chuckle.

 

In total honesty, yes, Honolulu traffic is a bear.  One accident on the H1 and it will back up for miles.  But, as I remind myself, we have traffic here because we have people here.  People are here because they want to be here, because there are things to do here.  So if I want the one, the other comes with - hard to escape it.  And then I turn on my audiobook or the radio (we get NPR again!) and try to relax a bit.  Traffic is what it is, not much you can do to change it.  Years of driving the HRBT taught me that!

 

And just because this post needed some pictures, here's a shot from a sunset hike I did back in the fall.  Several groups around here head to different trails to go hike at sunset on full moon nights.  This one is the view from the trail to the Makapu'u Lighthouse, looking back toward the sunset over Hawaii Kai.  Very, very pretty.

 

A finished project to celebrate a new job!

This was knit up in the fall, so still pretty recent, compared to a few of these others!  I wanted a quick and relatively mindless project as I was going through my Netflix queue, waiting to start my new job.**  This one was waiting in my Ravelry queue, and it just seemed like the time to do it.  Yes, I do realize that it'll probably be in my cedar chest for a while until we get somewhere with enough winter to be able to wear heavy wool again.  But living in Hawaii isn't going to stop me from knitting, sorry!

 

 

The Yarn

Plymouth Yarn Trabajos Del Peru.

A thick-and-thin yarn, which Plymouth has unfortunately discontinued. I seem to find those a lot - yarns I like and have no issues with, but that have been discontinued (possibly as trends and fads change, making way for new textures or materials or colors).  Part of shopping sale bins, I suppose!  Still good finds, great for one-skein projects, and of course more affordable - just disappointing when you find you can't work with the yarn again.

This one is nice and soft and doesn't split.  It's a single-ply yarn, though, so you can inadvertently stick your needle through the yarn itself; something to be careful about.  Like when using most thick and thin yarns, it's best to use a simpler pattern.  The texture on thick and thin yarns tends to overwhelm more intricate patterns (or, alternately, the texture of the yarn is lost, and you might as well have used a smoother, less 'fancy' yarn).

The Pattern

That's One Sexy Librarian! Neckwrap by Brian Atkinson at An Excellent Source of Fiber.

Yes, I totally made this one for the name!  I've graduated, have my degree, and will actually be working IN my field in a few weeks time (something to celebrate for any military spouse!).  So, like with quirky race names (here's to you, Santa Shuffle), the name was a factor in my decision :)  I don't know the story behind his naming of the pattern, but I like it.

The neckwrap's a pretty quick knit, mostly garter stitch, with the loopy X's for something of interest.  It's a great pattern for yarns that you want to show off, ones with some character or texture, but that you don't necessarily have a lot of.  I used the thick and thin yarn, while other Ravelry users knit with tweeds or homespun yarns.

It's truly a neckwrap - or a scarflette, if you prefer.  It's a great one-skein project, but one-skein projects don't make for very long scarves.  So, this one's a nice cozy tuck-around scarf, rather than one that you loop around multiple times.  With the soft wool yarn, though, it's still nice and cozy.

Thoughts, Notes, Alterations, etc.

The only real change I made was in needle size.  I started on US 8, as the pattern called for, but with this yarn, that gauge was making a very tight piece. So, I went up needle sizes to US 10. This created a little bit softer fabric, a little bit more drape, and you can see the thick-and-thin of the yarn more than on the 8s.

I didn't count my rows, the way the pattern called for.  But, using a different yarn than the original pattern, I had slightly different yardage in my skein.  To make the scarflette balanced (with mirror image ends), and still use as much yarn as possible from the skein, I pulled out my kitchen/postage scale and weighed my skein repeatedly as I worked along.  Then, with a bit of math, I could figure out when I needed to start the X's on the second half of the scarf.  Yeah, I'm that knitter :)

**This project was finished back in October, while I was indeed celebrating a new job.  All hired and signed and everything, but had extra time before actually starting to work.  I had to wait extra time for my background check paperwork to clear, since there was a software upgrade at my new workplace right as I was being hired.  So, new job, plus still Netflix & Knitting time - trying to finish up some series I'd started while my toe was healing after the move!

And things are finally settling down. Maybe??

This year has been a crazy one, even by our standards.

There was the Big Move, of course, and finally graduating with my Master's.  A new niece was born in the summer.  These all would be enough to make any year pretty eventful.  But of course, things didn't stop there.

It has also been the Year of Broken Things.  In order:

• I broke my toe the week before we moved.  Not fun spending the first several months of our time in HI in a boot or walking shoe.  Besides being hot, it also meant being unable to hike or go to the beach (walking on sand is hard!!) or spend time just walking about playing tourist :(
• Two computers have died and been repaired (both thankfully within warranty, but one did die the DAY before we flew out from TX - I nearly cried)
• My car arrived in HI and immediately needed repairs
• The cat is starting to have some age-related problems (manageable, but still...). 
• And the stress caused my eyes to start showing their age.  Apparently I've always been far-sighted and just never needed glasses before, but the stress of this summer was the breaking point.  When I can't focus on the stitches on my knitting needles, that's not good.

And yes, this was all surrounding the move out to Hawaii and Zach being immediately posted to Korea for an extended temporary duty (he'll be back in Spring).

And all this has been in addition to the craziness outside in the world.  Several of my favorite actors have passed away this year, as well as a favorite children's author (Anna Dewdney, of Llama Llama fame), and of course the election with it's toxic build-up and post-election fall-out.  The world outside has been a pretty stressful place too.

I'm not trying to sound negative.  Lots of good has happened this year as well.  The move, graduation, new niece, new job (actually in my field!!).  I've had a bit of chance to explore, get involved, meet new people.  A chance to travel out to visit Zach in Korea too (still labeling pictures from that trip).

So, if anyone was wondering why I haven't been writing much this year, this is why.  Life has been quite a lot this year.  Every time I sat down to write here, I was either too tired to think coherently, or I'd been on my own too much and it felt like everything I was thinking was just pouring out, and it felt like I was oversharing.  It made it hard to find that balance where I was just comfortably writing. 

Hopefully 2017 will be a bit calmer and a bit saner, but still with some adventures to be had. 

Happy New Year everyone!

PS - one thing they don't tell you about moving to Hawaii is the extreme love of fireworks!  We had 6 hours of fireworks going off in the neighborhood yesterday!!  Not fireworks shows, just firecrackers in the neighborhood - and we live in a quiet neighborhood!  Started about 7-7:30ish as the sun went down, and was still going at least until 1:30am when I finally was tired enough to just pass out, despite the noise!  Scruffy and I BOTH slept in this morning - way too late for us.

I blinked and Spring happened...

Well, I knew this spring semester was going to be a doozy, but I didn't realize how big until I sat down to write today and saw my last post was from DECEMBER!  Yipes!!

But, lots has happened in the meantime, so for a quick catch-up:

• I am in my final semester of grad school, and almost done with that (only 5 more weeks now!!)
• I finished my End of Project Exam in February.  This is the capstone exam for my degree program - Written Comps/Comprehensives, some might know it as.  Basically a looong week of writing papers, trying to demonstrate in your answers that you are fully synthesizing what you have learned over the past three years.  Pretty draining, with the way I write papers.  But all is good; I've been notified that I've passed.  One more box checked off before graduation!
• I finished a pair of blankets for my niece and nephew.  THE blankets, if you've heard me talk about them.  Quite the project, but finally all done and being enjoyed by the little ones :)
• We had a whirlwind trip to New Mexico with Mom for a marathon.  There are so many pictures from this trip, that it will have its own set of posts.
• And the big news (as if all that wasn't enough): Zach and I have moved!  We are now in a hotel in HAWAII looking for housing as Zach in-processes at his new job. After 5 years in TX and 3.5 in the desert, we are in Hawaii!!  Water!  Mountains!  Trees!  Very very exciting!!!!  But more on that in another post, since the whole move has been a saga unto itself.

So, yes, a few more posts to come over the next few days, with plenty of pictures.   I've time to write again, now that the semester's winding down and I'm not working at the moment.  Just consider this a teaser for now, so stay tuned :)

IFLA WLIC Day 5 - Meeting people

Networking, networking!

Part of the benefit to these conferences is the ability to meet people face to face, swap business cards, build those connections.  And I'm doing my best to strike up conversations.  As I mentioned yesterday, it's not my strong suit, introvert that I am, but librarians on the whole are a pretty friendly, helpful bunch.

As I've been talking to people, I've been asking about career paths and schooling.  Librarianship is such an unusual field in terms of grad school.  We all need our master's (or at least most countries require it) but unless they want to teach, few get into the field thinking "I want my PhD in Information Science."  That's very different from my undergraduate degree.  Scientists pretty much know if they will need advanced education, and if they will need it, most go straight through to the doctorate (or at least the ones I know).  At most, it seems they might take a year or two for some sort of work-study or Fulbright or Peace Corps sort of project.  But I know very few librarians, either in my grad school or those I've met at events like this, who have gone straight through.  A lot of people seem to get out and work for a couple years (or more) and then find their way back to a PhD program for one reason or another.  Common advice I'm hearing is to get involved in the IFLA and/or ALA committees.  They are good ways to get to know other professionals, and also to learn some of the opportunities and possibilities out there for librarians.  More chances to figure out how I want to focus my library career, and possible ways to go about doing it. 

As for me, I'm still learning my options.  We will be moving to an actual city in April, and there will be a university there with a PhD program I could enter.  I don't object to further education, so in terms of the work, I have nothing against earning my doctorate.  But with moving around so unpredictably, I am unsure if I should get my PhD while we're in a city where I can, or if I should wait, or if I need it at all.  Will I spend all that time and effort and expense to earn my degree, and then end up getting stationed at Ft Irwin or Polk or someplace else so remote there's no chance to use it?  So, as I chat with people, I'm also trying to pick their brains, get advice, and hear their story of how they ended up where they are.

Speaking of where we'll be in the future, I've met one librarian who teaches at the university there where we'll be stationed in the spring, as well as a couple people who will introduce me to others (people who know people, in other words).  Here's hoping that it'll help get my foot in the door next year, and make moving to a new area a little easier (in the job search, at least!).

I'm also meeting non-librarians (who'd've thought!) and it's very interesting talking to people from all over.  At the reception last night, for example, I had a great conversation with a college kid from Montreal who had come along with his mom before heading back to school in the fall.  We talked about beaches and the coast (the reception was at an aquarium, after all) and travel and sites in Cape Town and the surrounding area.  I've only had a little bit of tourist time so far, but what I've done hasn't been what he's done so far, and vice versa, so it was interesting comparing notes.  He said that he'd be shark diving this week, so hopefully I'll see him again later this week and be able to hear how that went!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody! The weather has finally cooled off, it's Friday, and we've finished some larger projects at work, so I'm in a pretty festive mood right now.  Festive tidings to all! Or... BOO!  Or whatever one says on Halloween :) 

Right now, Zach is unfortunately working an evening duty, so I'm chattering away here and watching the trick-or-treaters come 'round. 

We've had some fun this year too - our first Jack-o-lantern!  Between one thing and another (mostly crazy work schedules) we've really only started celebrating Halloween since we got to Texas.  Was a harder holiday to make work in California (like I said, work schedules).  But since being in Texas, we've been able to have trick-or-treaters each year, and this year, a Jack-o-lantern too!  

 

To quote Calvin and Hobbes, "Ok, Jack, time for your lobotomy!"

   

And all done and lit!  Fun fun!!

 

And of course, with pumpkin carving, comes toasted pumpkin seeds.  My first time in years making them, so here's the recipes I found.  And my notes, so I don't forget next year :)

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Recipe from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

• Pumpkins seeds
• Water
• Salt
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Scoop out the innards of your pumpkin.  It's easiest to do this if you cut the top off, to get access.  If you're making a Jack-o-lantern, as we were, you're doing this already, so just set the goopy pumpkin insides to the side until you are ready to shift from pumpkin-carving to pumpkin-toasting.  I suppose if you're multitasking, you could start the seed prep-work as you carve, but we were both focused on the carving.  Seeds had to come later.  :)
2. Wash the seeds.  You'll need to do this by hand, in order to separate the seeds from the stringy bits.  Use the colander; it will help.   And yes, your hands will be pretty messy.
3. Measure the pumpkin seeds in a cup measure before you place them in a medium saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the pan for every 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds. Add more salt if you prefer your seeds on the saltier side.  According to Simply Recipes, boiling the seeds in salt water before you toast them lets the salt permeate the seeds, instead of just sitting on top of the shell (like it would if you simply tossed the seeds in oil and salt before toasting).  
4. Bring the salted water and pumpkin seeds to a boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes. 
5. Remove from heat and drain well.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F. 
6. Spread some olive oil on the bottom of a roasting pan or thick baking sheet (I used a cookie sheet with a lip around the edge).  I say spread "some" because I just drizzled the oil, but Simply Recipes recommends about a teaspoon or so. 
7. Spread the seeds out over the sheet in a single layer.  
8. Toss them a bit to coat them with the oil on the pan. I used our silicone basting brush to spread the oil around and cover the seeds.  Worked well, and I didn't have to risk literally tossing my seeds across the kitchen (which is probably what would have happened!).
9. Place sheet on the top rack of your oven and bake until the seeds begin to brown.  This is the tricky part, because it could be anywhere from 5-20 minutes, depending on how big your seeds are.  Smaller  seeds may be done in 5 minutes or so, but large pumpkin seeds may take up to 20 minutes. SO!  Keep an eye on your pumpkin seeds!   I set my timer for 5 minutes at a time, and checked regularly. 
10. When lightly browned, remove the sheet from the oven and let the seeds cool. You don't have to let them cool ALL the way down before eating, but you do want them cool enough you don't burn your tongue.
11. Enjoy!

Notes, References, etc.

As I said above, I used the recipe on Simply Recipes, but there are lots of other variations on toasted pumpkin seeds, as it turns out.  Do you boil them, do you just toast them, do you use olive oil or melted butter, do you toast them on high for less time, or longer at a lower temp... lots of variations.  What I particularly liked were the flavor variations people mentioned!  Here's a sampling:

• 101 Cookbooks - Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: 3 Ways.  The variations there are Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds, Black Tea & Butter Pumpkin Seeds, and Curried Pumpkin Seeds.
• 101 Cookbooks also has a Thai-spiced pumpkin soup recipe, and Simply Recipes has several pumpkin recipes, too - if you're cooking pumpkin anyway...  ;)
• All Recipes is always a good stop.  A basic recipe, but lots of helpful comments. 
• Michael Chiarello's recipe on Food Network.com.  Again a basic recipe, but there are some good tips in the comment section (I think food websites are the only ones where I read the comments anymore!)
• Food Network Kitchens, also on Food Network.com, has a bunch of variations - Italian, barbeque, Indian... definitely a few I want to try next time!
• Food.com lists some good optional seasonings too.  Chili powder, garlic powder, cajun seasonings...

My last comment is a reminder to WATCH YOUR TOASTING!  Mine did end up a little burnt :(  Probably should have stopped at 10 minutes, instead of 12.  It's like popcorn.  Light and salty and delicious if done right, but go just a little too long when cooking, and you end up with that burnt aftertaste, like you're eating charcoal. 

So, definitely worth a repeat, and some yummy looking variations I want to try, but also learned a lesson on toasting them.  Just wait til next year!  :D

Crazy Colorful Fun!

I have now done a Color Run!

I've been wanting to do one of these for a couple years now, really since they first started getting popular.  With one thing and another, I just couldn't make one.  There are actually a bunch in the area, too.  Austin and Dallas both have them, if I don't mind driving.  Temple and Killeen both have them too, which was more surprising.  But between schedules and having people to run with, it just wasn't working out for me.  Normally having buddies on a race isn't a big deal for me, but with this one, it just seemed like a More-The-Merrier sort of thing.

So, we were planning on doing the one in Killeen this fall (November).  We still might, come to think of it!  But then we lucked out.  MWR on post puts on races regularly through the year, and the 4th of July race is one of their standards.  This year, they decided to make it a color run!  Couldn't pass that up!  So here we are, nice and clean white shirts, all ready to go. 

If you're going to do one of these, the pre-race picture is important - lets you see how very dusted you actually became!

The race itself was fun, but crowded.  It was by far one of the biggest turn-outs I've ever seen at an MWR event, let alone a race!  Everyone was taking advantage of it!!  There were so many people there, I wouldn't call it a race at all.  It was still a 5K (they just used the post's usual 5K course) but with all the people, and especially with so many kids and first time runners, it made quite a crowd to maneuver through, in spite of the wave start.  Even with the crowd, I'd say it's worth doing.  Especially if you can talk someone into trying a 5K for the first time.  All the colored powder and no timing definitely makes it a less intimidating introduction to running.  Anything to encourage people to be more active, right?

Despite what you might think looking at Zach's shirt above, the majority of the color doesn't come from the race itself (unless you make a special effort) but from the Color Party afterwards.  Zach got so very blue by being at the front of the first wave.  The volunteer color teams (those who throw the powder at the runners) were still VERY excited as he was running through.  The kids especially were having a blast trying to get the adults with the color.  Living in Texas, we don't actually get snow to speak of, so this is the closest we can come to a snowball fight and being able to legitimately throw stuff at one another.

 

As you can see below, the Color Party  leaves significantly more color on a person!  People got little bags of color as they finished (I think it comes in the race packets in an average Color Run).  And then at the party, the volunteers spray powder over the crowds (in the pictures above) and people toss their powder up (or at each other).  Everyone gets very colored!

Surprisingly (I suppose) for a crafty-type person, I did not try to set the color on my shirt.  Zach and I talked about it, but ultimately, I just washed it back to the basic white.  I took pictures, though!  You can probably see why I chose not to - the funny green stripe from Zach hugging me, and the sports bra-shaped void on the back are just kinda funny.  So, would rather have my basic black and white running shirt back.  Zach's shirt we didn't even try to salvage!  

 

The powder does wash out, eventually. My hat is back to black, and after a few washes, my shirt is white again too.  Maybe at the November race, I'll try and get a better "design" on my shirt and try and set it then.  We'll see!  :)

Colorado Trip: Garden of the Gods

First stop in Colorado Springs was shopping, actually.  So nice being in a town that has shops for our hobbies again!!  For example, both Zach and I needed to be fitted for new running shoes, but our closest running store at home is in Austin, about an hour away.  So we made sure to stop by one of the (4!!) running stores in Colorado Springs.  Still can't believe that we don't have a running store, with the base right there and so many people running regularly for PT.  But no, all we've got are big-box sports stores.  The type of place where "Well, the more expensive pair is supposed to be pretty good."  Yeah, need a little more than that when training for half and full marathons...

Funnily enough, we ended up being fitted for the same shoe!  Of course, my shoe size is almost half as small as his, so our identical shoe boxes looked more like a full-size and a mini-sized pair of something.  Was pretty funny, sitting there on the counter for checkout, actually.

For the first touristing bit, we hit up the Garden of the Gods.  It's a National Natural Landmark centered about some very scenic red rock outcrops.  There's about 15 miles of trails through the park, and it's a pretty popular place for hikers and trail runners and, on the easier trails, families with their kids.

It's a really lovely little hiking spot.  Not strenuous trails, but absolutely gorgeous, and right in town.  I mean, it was only about 20 minutes from our friends' place, from downtown, etc.  That's one of the great things about Colorado Springs - within 20-30 minutes, you go from shopping and restaurants and museums to absolutely stunning mountains and parks and trails.  Everything you could want, so convenient!

The photos below are from a spot in the park not to be missed.  The rock columns behind me are the Siamese Twins.  According to the park website, "SIAMESE TWINS TRAIL is an easy 1 mile roundtrip, with less than a 150 foot rise. There is a unique view of Pikes Peak through the natural window of the twins."  It is a very pretty view.  The reddish rocks, the bright blue sky, and the snow on Pike's Peak make for a really lovely photo.  Definitely worth the walk up there, if you're ever in the area.

 

And for a bit of fun, did you know Garden of the Gods has been a pretty, scenic little tourist spot since the late 1800s?  At Balanced Rock, another one of the landmarks in the park, a photographer and his son would take pictures for the tourists coming through, at $0.25 a person.  Those same photos would probably be $25 a person nowadays!  So, we got pictures in front the same rock as a hundred years of hikers before us, though of course we took ours ourselves :)

 

And a little bit of venting to wrap up this post - Murphy's Law is alive and well.  First real trip in months, first day touristing on the first real trip, and my camera dies.  We were hiking, and I was taking pictures.  We stop, I take pictures, camera goes back in its case, we keep walking, and the next time I pull it out to take pictures, it's dead.  The screen looks like a washed out red watercolor, or one of the stylized drug trip/hallucination/dream sequence sort of special effects from a cheap movie.  Not the screen itself broken, since I could scroll back and see the pictures from earlier that morning nice and clearly.  But anything from there on out...  red and blurred.  Bah!!  This camera is only 6 months old!!!  Thankfully it's still under warranty, so as soon as we got back, it got mailed in, and I'm hoping it can be fixed.  But, dangit Murphy, why must your law be so freakin' effective??

I'm sharing the crazy!

I got Zach to run a marathon!!  A full one!  This was a couple weeks ago, April 21st, but we just got the email over the weekend that the race photos were up and online, so it reminded me that I hadn't shared yet.

The Army Marathon was a point-to-point race between Temple and Killeen.  Pretty interesting race in itself.  Kinda crazy planning your long runs thinking about running to the next town over...

Good luck!  I posted both pictures, since you can't really read the sign in the picture with Zach in it :)

 

The grins are still nice and big at the starting line!  We ran into a coworker of Zach's whom we see at a lot of the races in the area and got him to take our picture.  A nice "before" shot, y'know?

 

The race planners had done a great job for timing.  The race start was 0630, so it was still dark when we all set out.  It was a little cool at the start, since we'd had a cold front move in.  But had it been normal spring weather, that early start would mean that even the pokey runners like myself would be done before the sun started being miserable.  The extra bonus to the early morning start is that we were on the course as the sun came up.  Made for some pretty skies!

But really, we couldn't have asked for better weather!  It's Texas in the spring, so goodness knows what sort of weather you're going to get.  We lucked out ROYALLY!!  65 and overcast the entire race!  It had been in the 90s the week before, and climbed back up after Sunday, but the race day itself?  Not too sunny, not too windy, not too hot or cold.  Very Goldilocks - juuuuust right!

How'd we do?  We actually finished about 6 minutes apart.  Zach took it out a little fast and his knees started objecting about halfway, so he did a lot more walking than planned.  I dropped about 20 minutes from my Long Beach time - new PR!  I seem to have come up with a training plan that works:  get sick the week before the race.  This isn't the first race that I've been sick right before, and then run a strong race.  As best I can figure, it forces you to rest (mandatory taper!) and it knocks off the nerves and pressure.  After battling a bad cold all week, I was debating up until Saturday morning if I was going to run on Sunday or not!  So, at the starting line on Sunday morning, my whole goal was "FINISH!"  With less pressure on myself, I relaxed and just ran as was comfortable.  Kept my goal pace up until about mile 14, then had to slow down a little.  By mile 17-18ish (my usual wall) I had pretty much reversed my walk and run intervals, doing a lot more walking than running.  That was the point I could tell I had been pretty sick the week before.  But I finished! And with a very strong first half, I dropped time!

And how was the race itself, being its first year and all?  Very well done!  I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in the central Texas area, or anyone who wants to come in and visit (kinda an odd destination race, but you meet all types).  Minor changes and suggestions to make, but really, the important stuff was covered.  Packet registration went pretty smoothly. Plenty of water and sports drink stations through the race, and port-o-potties on the course regularly.  Intersections were always staffed to direct runners and any cars passing through.  The shuttle back to Killeen from the finish line didn't have too much of a wait (veeeery much appreciated on tired legs).  Good shirts and a pretty decent finisher's medal, too.  And a side note - being held the weekend after the tragedies in Boston and West, TX (only an hour and a half or so from us), it was handled very well, considering the enormous impact those events had on the community represented at the race (both runners and central TX residents).  You could tell the security had been upped a bit - a lot more patrol cars on the route than a race this size might expect, and K9 units noticeably at the start and finish.  But the event still ran very smoothly.  For being a first year race, that's pretty impressive.  So yup, definitely a recommended race if you're in the area.

I know when I ran my first one, I wasn't sure I'd ever run another.  But hey, I'd finished at least one, which is a heckuva lot more than many people do.  I thought I'd pretty much stick with half marathons and shorter, now that the big box was checked off.  Unless of course, there were special circumstances...

Which lead to Long Beach.  A few days before a friend's 40th birthday, and with a handful of folk from post also running.  So, yes, plenty of reason to make an exception for another one, right?  The power of peer pressure!

And then the standard was set - if there is a good reason, I'll consider that crazy distance again.  Ta-da: Killeen decides to co-host a marathon with neighboring Temple.  And since I needed motivation for spring runs, I was signed up again (and managing to talk Zach into it too!)

Killeen is a kinda nondescript town.  It's not miserable (i.e. not like our last post!!) and civilization is available and not horribly inconvenient. But it's not a place that really has any character of it's own.  Just kinda a large bedroom community for the post here.  And with Austin and Waco being so close with so much going on, it's very easy to write things off, "oh, I'll just go to Austin for that."  With races though, that's kinda hard, even though both Waco and Austin have a lot each year.  For a big race like a half or a full, traveling an hour and a half or so away means hotel stay, meals to consider, lots of travel after a very long race... makes an already expensive and time consuming race a lot more work.  Having a race right here in our own back yard is a chance you can't pass up!

So, yes, supporting a marathon that is actually close to home was important.  And it supports some close-to-home causes, too, to ice the cake.  It was the inaugural race this year - if there's a good turn-out and positive reviews, they'll keep having the race.  Which means something positive for the community.  Definitely one to run.

The funny thing is, Zach had that "first-and-last" marathon attitude when we finished too.  And then yesterday, he said he might run another, just to earn a time he'd be happier with.  Who knows?  We'll see what we think next year!

(PS - sorry I didn't get any finish line shots - we were both exhausted and just wanted to get home to a nice long bath!)

Oh So Pinteresting Wednesday - Quote Scarf

Almost through February now - Week 8 already!  This year is flying right along!

This week is a lovely project that I fell in love with soon after I first stumbled onto Pinterest.  The original DIY instructions are from Stamp48, with the original inspiration piece being a scarf from We Are Owls' Fall/Winter 2010 collection.  Like Lauren over at Stamp48, designer cashmere scarves are a little (read: solidly) over my budget, no matter now gorgeous they are.  So, I followed her instructions on how to create a similar scarf of my own.  What follows, as always, are the original instructions, with any notes, advice, alterations, etc. that I used in making my own version of the piece.

What do you need:

• a scarf, pashmina, length of fabric, etc. that you want to decorate.  I used a pashmina I found on sale, a nice and inexpensive woven wool blend.
• a fabric paint pen.  I used Fabric Mate, a chisel-tip paint pen, which was perfect, as I could make my writing angled and 'swoopy' and pretty :)
• a quote you like
• optional - painter's blue tape, or similar removable masking tape
• also optional, but highly recommended - something to cover your workspace (I used my knitting blocking boards)
  
  

  

What do you do:

1.     Protect your workspace, particularly if your scarf is thin or your brand of paint pen tends to bleed.  I have interlocking blocking boards for my knitting, so I laid out three of them as one long rectangle, and it was the perfect size for my pashmina.

2.     Lay out your scarf.  I left mine wrinkled, as I liked the effect that the texture gave to the lettering.   

3.     I anchored my scarf to the craft mat I was using (i.e. my blocking boards) with some blue painters tape.  I didn't pull the scarf taut over the boards (like I said, I liked the texture), but the anchoring of tape did help cut down a LOT on how much the scarf slid around as I wrote.

4.     Write out your quote on the scarf.  Yes it really is this simple. 

5.     Follow the instructions for your particular paint pen on how to set the ink.  For the brand I used, all you had to do was let it dry for 24 hours.

6.     Shoo away helpful kitties to take a picture of the finished project.  I swear, there's a crafter deep down in that cat - so many of my craft projects have him investigating/sitting atop my work!

Things to consider:

• I practiced my quote in a font I liked on paper first, to get the spacing as I liked it.  Nothing fancy, just a regular lined notepad worked fine, but it gave me an idea of how big to make my letters. 
• Lauren over at Stamp48 also suggested practicing on a similar fabric, to get used to how the pen writes on your particular material.  I skipped this step, as I had no similar fabric to practice on.  However, I was using a long quote and had practiced my lettering on paper beforehand, so I just wrote slowly at first to get used to the pen.  I also was using a fabric pen more like a marker than a paint pen, so didn't have to worry as much about ink bleeding or how hard to squeeze the pen to control ink flow.  A little thing I hadn't considered when shopping for a paint pen, but it turned out to be a nice little bonus.

• I did estimate how many lines I would use to write out my quote, and used a tape measure to roughly mark approximate spacing for the start of each line of text.  Just plain sidewalk chalk worked perfectly.  An extra optional supply, I guess, depending on how you want your quote spaced.  I wanted it relatively evenly spaced, but not too precisely so - the inconsistencies give it a nice handwritten feel.
• I let my ink dry a little while the scarf was laid out, and then went back over some of the letters.  Some just needed some extra emphasis (like the starts of the lines of text), some letters were just kinda light to begin with.  Means that my scarf took a little to dry, but I liked the ultimate effect.  Just another option to play around with to give your scarf a personal touch.  
• Thinking of ink drying... Don't wear long sleeves, particularly if you're also a lefty.  It's the chalkboard effect all over again (Am I dating myself now?  Do many schools even still use chalkboards?)  At any rate, I had dark purpley-blue ink all down my fore-arms when I was done.  Lovely smudges that looked like bruises until I washed my hands... and my arms all the way to my elbows!  I hadn't smudged the writing, as I wasn't writing that quickly, but I did end up with ink all over.  In short, be prepared; you are working with ink after all.  Don't wear anything you wouldn't want smudges on.

What quote did I use?  One of my favorites from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

I'm a worrier, a fretter, an over-thinker.  As my life becomes more hectic with more Army moves in the future, and grad school rapidly approaching, I wanted something to remind myself to let go of what I can no longer change and focus on doing my best with what's ahead.  I'm fond of accessories that have hidden meanings like that - charms on a necklace or bracelet, quotes on a scarf, that sort of thing.  No one else might see them, but I know they are there, and it is a nice reminder for me.  Like I said, I'm a stress puppy, so every little thing to help keep me sane :)  And if it's a pretty scarf to drape around my neck, even better!

Expanding my beading!

And I'm back!  More on the move and travel and new house and all the big changes in a later post, but first a few crafting posts.  I'm sorting my pictures on my computer and on Flickr, and realized I hadn't posted about any of the recent jewelry projects I've played with.  So here goes!

Between finding that I'm enjoying the beading and working at a job that had a dressier 'business casual' dress code compared to my last few jobs, I'm trying new projects - branching out into jewelry with my beading.  I'm not one for gemstones, really, so the beaded necklaces suit my tastes.

This very springtime-y one is based on instructions from Artbeads (the Pastel Passion Necklace).  This one was almost exactly as the original instructions dictated.  The only changes I made were using a slightly smaller silver spacer bead (only 1mm smaller, but about half the cost, based on what was on sale at the time!) and adding two little flower beads at the end by the clasp.  The holes in the colored beads were too big for the crimp beads, so they kept sliding around.  I put in the silver flowers to space them out a little, keep them from jamming up on the crimps at the clasp.  The flower clasp was one I had (Oriental Trading Company, I believe).  Also keeps with the springtime theme :)   Isn't it cute?

 

This one is inspired by a sample project from Artbeads (the Three Strand Pretty Purple Necklace).  I had black and red beads that coordinated well, so it's a totally different look than the purple sample. 

 

This one is also taken from Artbeads (the True Love Necklace), and the biggest thing I really changed was the color scheme.  I just don't really wear THAT much red, and don't really like kitschy red or pink heart necklaces.  So, white instead!  Not quite so seasonally limiting :)  I also spaced out the hearts a little more on the strands, and used 3 pairs of hearts, instead of the 2 pairs in the original. Finally, I put one pair of hearts on each strand, instead of having heart pairs on the same strand, like in the original.  Just personal preference on those changes.  For the clasp... well, I didn't do a clasp on this one.  The necklace is long enough that it will fit over my head without having to play with a clasp, so I ran the 3 wires through a large white bead and crimped them in place on either side.  So, one large gathering bead, instead of clasp.  The picture below probably does a better job of explaining than I'm doing right now :)

 

Yet another one inspired by Artbeads (Reasons of the Heart), but altered to fit what I had and wanted to use.  (Yes, definitely check out that website for some good inspiration projects!!)  I used a quote pendant of my own with a quote that I'm trying to adopt more and more - "Bloom where you are planted."  I saw that quote on a quilted wall hanging in a friend's office.  She had added pins from all her husband's units to the wall hanging.  I've also seen it as a caption for a painting of a cactus flower (very appropriate for our last and current duty stations).  Either way, I thought that was a good mindset for an Army spouse to have.  You don't know where you'll end up, so make the most of where you are!  The necklace itself here is made with mixed metals and mixed textures of chains, with the quote as the focal pendant.  The clasp is one of an assortment that I found on sale at Michael's, and fits in with the theme nicely :)

 

This one is one of my own designs.  The focal pendant came with the one above as a set.  I'm trying to be very positive thinking about where we bounce around to, can you tell?  I liked the green earthy beads with the theme of growth, and the little flower accent was just added for emphasis.  It doesn't curve as nicely as it could, due to the different types of beads (the green and the filigree) but I like it all the same.  The clasp is another from that same pack as the one of the Bloom necklace pictured above.

So,  here are a few recent beading projects.  I have a few more that I'll get posted soon too.  Gotta break 'em into a few posts, so that the pictures don't take too long to load, right?  :)